FateDXD
by Asianpotter1
Summary: Following his death and resurrection, Issei Hyoudou had entered a world of angels, devils, and everything in between. However, through the intervention of a single drinking cup, things turned out rather differently. The Welsh Dragon Emperor would come face to face with a Holy Sword Wielder sooner than expected. (There will be some non-FSN elements beyond just the servants used.)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"You two left me behind!" A young boy shouted, glaring at the two others who crouched before him. "If I got to see some boobs then got like this, I'd be fine with it."

Single, infamous, perverted to an extreme: these are all wordss that describe the boy called Issei Hyoudou. Unfortunately little to no people considered him as anything more than a nuisance, save for those of similar qualities, including two other boys, Matsuda and Motohama, Issei's only friends in Kuoh Academy. Together, the three were crowned the title of "The Perverted Trio". Needless to say, they sat at the very bottom of his school's social hierarchy.

"But I didn't get to see any- Huh?" Issei stopped speaking. The interruption came from neither of his two audience members. He suddenly felt an urge, or maybe it was instinct or a command, to turn his head and look up. When he did, his eyes laid upon the face of a familiar woman, one he knew by name.

Rias Gremory, unquestionably the most beautiful girl at Kuoh Academy. She had a figure and a grace that bewitched all boys and girls. Heir hair was red, deeper and more brilliant than any rose. Her eyes were blue like the sky or the ocean. There was a rumor spread around the school, suggesting that she was from a foreign country, but none could confirm.

There was something odd about her. Not in the mystery of her origin, but the fact that from a windowsill of an old school building, she stared directly at Issei before disappearing. Perhaps he was simply hallucinating. After all, there was no reason the boy could think of as to why she was there or why she was looking at him. Yet at the same time, a hallucination seemed unlikely. As much as he had a habit of fantasizing, it was never that massive a problem.

'_Eh, it was probably nothing._' Issei shrugged. He turned his head back towards the two, noticing that they were making confused faces faces. "Anyways, I haven't been feeling great today, so I'm gonna head home." The two nodded, giving their best wishes as he stood up and departed from his friends.

Throughout the entire day, Issei had been off his usual game. Whether it was during class, lunch, or afterschool, he couldn't seem to get himself to focus on anything. It was as if his train of thought was constantly being interrupted. To add on, every so often, there was some incoherent whispering in the back of his head. He couldn't even tell whether it was male or female, or even human for that matter.

Walking away from his two and only friends, Issei sighed, taking a moment to look back at where he saw Rias. The window was now closed. For a moment, he felt a pair of eyes looking at him from the window. What if it was Rias again? He wondered for a moment, thinking about the possibility. Why was she looking at him of all people? She hadn't scorned or glared disgustedly at him like most girls did.

Was it, perhaps, a good omen? Was the look that she had on her face one of interest? Was it at all possible that she had been intrigued by him? No, of course not. There was no reason for her to be, nothing he had to offer. With that in mind, his shoulders lowered as a realization came to him.

He was a simple man with a simple wish. He didn't desire money, status, nor glory. He simply wanted a girlfriend. He wanted to have a woman, or if possible multiple women, that loved him. As he put it, he wished to be a "Harem King". Unfortunately, his reputation preceded him. Every single girl in the school knew who he was, and not a single one of them saw him as anything more than a creep. That was simply the order of things, something he thought about as he sulked his way off school grounds.

Issei stopping walking mid-way on a bridge. He heard the sound of cars driving beneath him. The sun was creeping its way down from its place in the sky, extending his shadow to its utmost limit. He leaned against the railing,

Issei looked around him, confirming that there was nobody within sight. He groaned to himself. '_Hasn't been that long since the school year started, but every girl pretty much hates me. I'll graduate before I even get to touch a single boob. Wonder if there's any way to fix how people see me. No, I shouldn't say that. I'm sure the only thing people would tell me is to stop with my hobbies, but there's no way I can do that. Even if people call it creepy or uncool, it's who I am and always will be._'

He hung his head down. His thoughts drowned out all the noises around him. He was in a trance-like state, seemingly cut off from the world itself, motionless as if he were made of stone. Save for his own internal voice, he could hear nothing. Not even the sound of footsteps drawing near.

Suddenly, he felt a weird tension in his shirt. Something was pinching the hem and pulling on it with weak force. It was enough to pull him out of his trance and cause him to return to reality. With a jolt, he seemed to wake up, quickly looking to his side to see what was happening. As he looked down, he saw something he wasn't expecting.

It was some little girl with purple hair. She wore a short white gown and a skull-mask on the side of her head. Her lips neither curved upward or downward, and her eyes hid nothing behind them. She resembled a doll, almost completely devoid of life. As soon as she noticed that he was aware of her action, she immediately let go and backed away.

"Can I help you?" Issei asked, crouching down to look the kid in the eyes.

The child pointed behind herself. He looked beyond her, and saw yet another girl, but one unlike the child before him. She looked to be around the same age as him. She was dressed in a high school uniform and held a bag in both hands. She was beautiful, with fair skin and gentle eyes. She had long hair that was black like the feathers of a raven. Most notably, at least to Issei, was her endowment. Her cheeks flushed with red, her eyes frantically glanced back and forth between Issei and the empty space.

"U-um, excuse me." The girl said softly, almost to the point of inaudibility. "You're Hyoudou Issei, from Kuoh Academy right?"

Issei nodded. "Yeah, that's me." He said as he stood back up. "Do you need something ?"

"My name is Yuuma and w-well… I have a request." The girl started to fidget even more than before. Suddenly, she swung her head down, bowing to the boy. "Please, go out with me!"

The world froze. Time itself stopped and her words became an echo. Everything else that he thought about, what to eat for dinner, what he was going to play later, or what he was going to play or watch; All of it disappeared in a moment. All he could think about was her question. There was only one way he could interpret it, yet it was the most unbelievable.

"Uh...I-uh, what did you just say?" He asked anxiously. He needed to know exactly what she meant.

"I have seen you pass by here almost every day. Well, I… I thought you were kinda cool. I'm asking you to please go out with me." She explained, turning even more red than before.

There was no hesitation in Issei's response. As if it had already been decided, he answered promptly with a wide and excited smile. "Yes!"

"Really? T-thank goodness…" Yuuma muttered, smiling warmly as the red slightly faded from her face. "Then, um, how about we schedule our first date? I'm free tomorrow. We could meet in the shopping district, in front of the C.I. building, if that is alright with you."

"Of course it is! I'll make sure to be there!" Issei answered quickly, barely hiding his surprise. '_A date already? That was fast._'

"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow." Without another word, Yuuma turned and ran off, waving goodbye to Issei.

"Yeah, me too." Issei muttered, waving back until she was no longer in sight.

Issei waited a moment before exploding with joy. His smile had never been so wide. He looked as if he was about to faint with excitement. While committing the time and place of their date to memory, Issei practically skipped and danced his way home. As he did, a single petite and white-haired girl seemed to focus on him. She hadn't said a word, before looking away and walking off.

* * *

'_I can't believe it, I can't believe it, I can't believe it! This is too good to be true!_' Issei internally cheered, finally reaching his house as the sun vanished. '_I've done it, I've gotten a girlfriend! And she's super cute too! This day couldn't get better! Man, when I tell Matsuda and Motohama, they're gonna go nuts._' He grinned devilishly.

He entered his home, hearing the sounds from the kitchen as he walked in.

"I'm home!" He shouted excitedly.

"Welcome back!" Issei heard his mom say. "Issei, something came in the mail earlier today from an old family friend. I think it's for you, so I left it in your room."

"Kay!" Issei climbed the stairs to the second floor, heading towards and walking into his room.

As Issei flipped the light switch, he found that a small white box sat on the corner of his desk. He raised an eyebrow to the new addition, walking towards and inspecting the container. It was completely white without a single impurity on any side. The lock on the front of the box shined and looked like gold.

"Hm, guess this is the thing mom talked about..." He said to himself, shrugging and opening the cube's top.

The interior was lined with a crimson cushioning. A small lump of silver sat in the middle, revealing itself to be a sapphire necklace as he picked it up. He stared, puzzled at the accessory. The necklace looked as if it was recently made. There was not a single blemish on it. The sapphire itself was over four centimeters long and shone like a diamond.

But he wasn't going to just sell it at some jewelry store. The moment he realized what it was, he knew exactly what he'd do with it. Issei swiftly returned the necklace to its container for safe keeping. He had a date with a real girl tomorrow.

* * *

The next day finally arrived, and Issei was far from home. The city bustled with people moving in every direction. For the most part it was just a regular day, but for Issei, it was the promised day. It would be his first step into a foreign world: the world of love.

For such an occasion, he actually dressed properly. His dress pants and collared black shirt rendered him presentable. Standing on the corner of a street, Issei happily waited for his first girlfriend to arrive. For a day like this, he would wait an eternity. Not that he wouldn't already, that is.

'_Huh, now that I think about it._' Issei thought to himself, cupping his chin with one hand. '_That little girl, where'd she go? Was she Yuuma-chan's little sister?_' It was somewhat odd in retrospect. The girl had appeared and disappeared, all without saying a single word. Even weirder was the fact that Yuuma didn't even react. She said nothing about the unnamed little girl, as if she didn't even see her.

"Here you go!" A voice said to Issei, pulling him out of his thoughts. A girl dressed in unusual red and black clothing stood in front of him. With a fake tail and wings, her outfit looked like something a character from a fantasy story or a cosplayer would wear. While Issei was entranced by her attire, she handed him a small paper card. There was a large ritualistic circle on the front of the card with text above and below.

'_Your wish will come true?_' He read, scratching the back of his head. '_Hm, there's no number or address on this._' He thought, flipping the card to see nothing written on the back. Before he could ask the woman about it, she had already walked off.

"Issei-kun!" Issei suddenly heard Yuuma's voice. She wore a short black dress with a white shirt over it.

"Good morning, Yuuma-chan!" Issei happily greeted her.

"Sorry, did I make you wait?" She asked with a worried look.

"Nah, I just got here actually." He replied with a reassuring smile. "Well, now that you're here, let's get going."

* * *

Their date was everything he had hoped it to be. He expected some sort of mishap on his first time taking a girl out. Maybe he'd forget to say something, or he'd do something stupid or annoying, anything at all that would disrupt their day. Fortunately, his worries went unrealized. Everything was just perfect. Rather, almost perfect. There was a particular moment that Issei was waiting for, a moment that would outshine the rest of the entire day.

As the sun began to set, Issei found himself walking Yuuma to a fountain, their hands intertwined.

"Today was fun." Yuuma remarked, smiling contentedly.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun." With his free hand, Issei reached to check his back pockets. One had the paper he received earlier. The other was the necklace he received yesterday. '_Good, it's still there._ _I don't know what I'd do if I lost it somehow._` He smiled excitedly.

Suddenly, the girl let go of Issei and ran in front of him, stopping at the lip of the water fountain and turning to face him.

"Hey, Issei-kun. To commemorate our first date, could you fulfil my wish?" Yuuma asked, inching closer to him and looking as sincere as she possibly could.

As she came closer, Issei was hit with a sudden sense of fear, the kind of feeling that sent shivers down his spine. His left hand clenched uncontrollably. '_What the hell's going on?_' He wondered, trying to remain composed. '_Why am I so scared all of a sudden? Is this what a first kiss is supposed to feel like?_/

The girl stopped a short distance in front of Issei, both of her hands held behind her back. She smiled at Issei, as if trying to reassure the boy.

"U-um, what is… your wish?" Issei asked, scratching his head sheepishly.

In an instant, his eyes were blinded in a flash of light. Instinctively, he raised a hand to shield his eyes. In doing so he felt a spike of extreme pain from the same hand. It felt like he was being stabbed, burned, and torn apart at the same time. When the light faded, he could see his hand was worse for wear.

His hand, for the most part, remained intact. However, a large bright object passed through his palm. It was glowing red and sharp, shaped like a spear. On the other end was the pole, held by none other than Yuuma. She looked like a completely different person. Her eyes were sharper, sinister, like they belonged to someone else.

"W-who… are you?" Issei asked, pulling his hand off the glowing red blade. He backed away, letting blood spill onto the ground.

"Don't take this personally." Yuuma said, her voice becoming deeper. "With that sacred gear of yours, you might end up becoming an issue. So as you die, blame God for your circumstances."

With both hands on the weapon, Yuuma lunged forward at Issei. He sidestepped, just barely avoiding a stab to the heart. However, she managed to graze him, tearing his shirt and cutting his skin. He winced in pain, his internal alarms blaring for him to run, yet his legs wouldn't allow him to, like they were frozen solid. Another voice, quieter than a whisper, told him to fight.

"No… I can't die here." he muttered, his consciousness leaking out like his blood. Slowly, he reached into his pockets, feeling the necklace in one of his hands. "Dying… here… would be so lame…"

"Sorry but you don't have a choice in the matter. This goes beyond you. I have to follow my orders."

"Y-Yuuma-chan… y'know, I wanted to give you something." Issei said, his lower half starting to go raised his uninjured hand up, holding the silver necklace in it. His other hand was elsewhere, moving without his intent. "To celebrate our first date."

"Aww, really? How cute." Yuuma lowered her spear for a moment but kept a tight grip on it. "I still can't let you live, but I'm still an angel. You should get some sort of reward, so I'll make sure to remember your name after you're dead." She smirked, raising her spear once more.

'_Seriously?_' Issei thought.

The blood from his arm almost completely soaked the card he was given earlier.

'_Well, at least she liked it_.'

Silently, the card began to emit a dim red light.

'_No, that's not what I should be thinking. I'm gonna die here, on my first date. God, that's really uncool._'

Suddenly, the red glow changed color, transitioning into a whitish blue. Ignoring the light, Yuuma wound her spear back preparing to thrust again.

'_Nevermind a harem, I didn't even get a first kiss. I can't just die here…_' Issei was on his last legs, his eyelids becoming heavier every second. There was another flash of light, but he didn't have the energy to react.

Suddenly, he heard Yuuma's voice again. She sounded shocked. Reverberations of metal clashing against metal sounded. With his eyes half closed, Issei caught a glimpse of a third figure dressed in white and blue. With some kind of weapon in hand, they fought against Yuuma's, and after a few seconds of their scuffle, she suddenly vanished. His back finally hit the ground.

"These are some weird circumstances. Nonetheless, I ask of you, are you my master?"

Issei couldn't hear anything after that. He finally reached his limit, and his eyes closed shut.

**END**.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Old School Building, a small facility repurposed into a base for clubs. For the past couple of years, it was home to the Occult Research Club led by Rias Gremory herself. a bright red light shone out from the inside, before vanishing in an instant.

Rias sat on a large couch in the middle of a large room, sipping from a small teacup.

She hummed to herself, putting down the cup. "That was odd. Someone was trying to summon me. Why did it stop?"

"Had someone beat you to it?" Another woman asked, coming into Rias' field of view. She smiled sarcastically at Rias.

"But it was odd." Rias responded with a serious look. "Just before the summoning was cancelled, I felt another presence, something with the holy element."

"Perhaps he called an angel."

"I doubt it. Koneko said that he received one of our cards, and as far as I know the angels don't operate as we do. There's a chance that something else is at play." Rias pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. "If that's the case, we might have some new problems."

"I'll have Koneko continue to observe."

"No, I have something else in mind. It'll be better if we know exactly what we're dealing with." Rias said, standing up from her seat and leaving the room.

* * *

"Yuuma… Yuuma…" Issei mumbled to himself in his sleep. He could think of nothing except for that woman, his first girlfriend and person who tried to murder him. He remembered the spear she used on him and the pain he felt from it. As he remembered the pain, he suddenly woke up.

Issei suddenly sprang up from his bed, cold sweat pouring from his face. He frantically scanned his surroundings, his eyes darting from side to side. He was back in his room. His alarm clock told him that it was nighttime. Realizing that he was safe, his heart finally calmed and he could breathe normally.

"_I'm back home?_" He thought, sliding off his bed. "_Was that just a nightmare?_"

Issei walked to the white box, opening it to see that the necklace wasn't inside. He checked his pockets, finding the decoration that should have been in the box. He noticed multiple blood stains on his clothes and went pale. He sat back down on his bed. He looked down at his left hand, but there was no wound. There wasn't even a tiny scar. He looked at his right hand and saw something weird.

There was some kind of marking on the back of his hand, colored red like blood. He tried to peel it off, as if it was a sticker, to no avail. As he looked over the tattoo, he suddenly heard a voice.

"Oh, it looks like you finally woke up."

Issei nearly jumped out of his skin. He hasn't ever heard it before, but it was certainly a person's voice. He scanned the room a second time, still finding nobody but himself.

"Uh… H-hello?" Issei asked, "Am I still dreaming?"

"No, you're definitely awake. I've just been surveying the area for any potential threats. Fortunately, there's none at the moment."

In a couple of seconds, a large amount of light blue particles appeared in the middle of the room. They were bright, but not so much that they were blinding. They rapidly grew in number, taking the shape of a human and changing color. Rather than a bunch of balls of light, a person now stood in front of him. He wore silver armor over a black shirt and pants. The interiors of his white cape and tunic were a sky blue. An empty sheath hung from his hip. His eyes were blue and a portion of his mostly black hair was white.

The knight-like figure knelt, bowing his head to Issei.

"Sorry for appearing later than I should have. I am a Saber class Servant under your command." he said, smiling warmly.

"_Servant?_" Issei raised an eyebrow.

Saber stood back up. "Although I shouldn't have been summoned in this form. The last time was under some very unusual circumstances… Then again these are some strange circumstances as well."

"What?" Issei asked.

"For starters, the mana here is incredibly potent, much more than what should be possible in this day and age. Using this: I could emulate the Independent Action skill, at least to some degree. Nonetheless, I'll still be relying on you for support." He chuckled, looking almost disappointed.

"Wait wait, hold on." Issei demanded, putting up his hands. "who are you? What happened to me? What do you mean servant, and mana? Just what is going on? Are you sure I'm not just having a video game dream?"

The black-haired boy looked at Issei puzzled. "Hmm, despite summoning me with a catalyst, you don't know who I am. On top of that, you don't know what mana or heroic spirits are. So, you summoned me by accident then?"

"I didn't _intend_ to summon anything. All I remember is-" Issei suddenly paused, looking down at his feet solemnly. "...Is Yuuma trying to kill me. I don't remember anything after that."

"I see. This could be a problem. Since our contract has already been completed, you are my master. For better or worse, we're bound." The boy sat down at Issei's desk, opening the drawers one after another before taking out a pencil and paper. "I think this will be the best way to explain."

He quickly scribbled on the piece of paper before presenting it to Issei. Seven different figures were drawn on the sheet. A sword bearing knight with long hair, a woman holding a longbow and arrows, a thin male figure holding a staff in both hands, a chariot rider, a shrouded figure holding a book and staff, a man holding a pair of daggers, and a beast-like humanoid.

"I am a Heroic Spirit, also called a Servant. As I said before, I am of the Saber class, one of seven classes that a Heroic spirit can be summoned as based on their exploits in life. Other than Saber, there is Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker.." He paused, looking at the alarm clock beside Issei's bed. "Besides, It's already late, and it seems like you could use more sleep."

"Huh, I guess so." Issei said. "_Now that I think about it, I didn't sleep much last night either. ._"

"Any short-answer questions?" Saber asked.

"Yeah, two actually," Issei scratched the back of his head. "What's your name? I mean, it's not Saber right?"

"It's not my True Name, no… It sucks, but I can't tell you just yet for now just call me Saber." Suddenly, his body turned back into a mass of blue light, before disappearing completely. "Oh, but rest assured, Master. You can trust me to protect you, even while you're at school."

"Wait, how did you know I have school?" Issei asked surprised.

"Heroic Spirits are given information about the era we're summoned into. That, and I noticed your school uniform in the closet earlier." He explained,

"Uh… alright." Issei said, frowning.

Issei removed his bloodied clothes and retreated under his blanket. His so-called Servant's voice faded into the background and his mind wandered. Skills, classes, and summons all sounded like something out of some game.

* * *

On that same night, far from the city, was a small forest. Hidden within that forest was an abandoned church. The glass in every window was broken. Water dripped from multiple places. Mold grew in multiple places, both in the walls and the grounds. It hadn't been used in several years.

Although on that night, it would be put to use once more. The church was occupied by a priest. Drawn in chalk on the ground before him was a large ritualistic circle.

With a bang, the front doors to the church were suddenly kicked open. A young man tossed a briefcase into the center of the room.

"Special delivery!" The boy shouted, his voice echoing throughout the room.

The older man sighed, picking up the briefcase. "Good grief, you could have a little mercy on this old man's ears."

"Oh please, things are gonna get a lot louder now, right?" Sellzen smirked.

The old man opened the briefcase, opening it and taking a piece of a broken rifle out of it. "This is the catalyst I asked for right? You didn't screw this up somehow?"

"Yep it's the real deal. Gimme a break will ya? It was hard getting this from the museum without killing anyone." Sellzen grumbled, crossing his arms disappointedly.

The old man rolled his eyes. "Trust me, It will be worth it. If what the angels said is true then none of the Heroic Spirits that have been summoned will be able to contend with that monster. But the servant I summon will be the perfect counter against it. All we will have to do is wait for that beast to slaughter the others, and swoop in for the final kill."

"Boooring!" Sellzen remarked. "If you want someone out there killing people, I'm already more than enough right?"

Ignoring the commentary, the old man placed the rifle piece into the middle of the circle. He raised up one hand, which had a bright red tattoo on its back, and spoke.

"Silver and steel are the essence. Stone and the Archduke of the contract are the foundation. White, the color I pay tribute to."

Suddenly, the chalk circle lit up.

"Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate. Let it be declared now: your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. If you abide by this will, this reason, then answer."

An immense amount of magical energy gathered into the circle. The light grew in intensity, wind blew violently in every direction, pushing away all debris.

"An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell. You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance."

A pillar of light rose from the circle, turning into fire and letting out a mighty roar. All flames in the room were extinguished. The bright orange flames looked as if they were from hell itself. the stray embers that jumped from the pillar didn't burn what they touched. And just as quickly as it appeared, the fire disappeared. The light of the circle dimmed and a figure remained kneeling at the center. Most of their body was concealed under a large red cape.

They scanned the interior of the church, scowling at its decrepit turned to their Summoner, they sighing discontentedly. "You must have some nerve to summon me in such a dirty and broken down place."

The old man bowed his head. "My apologies. it was difficult to find a good place to perform the ritual. The city wasn't an option. It belongs to those devils after all."

"Tell me. What country am I in?"

"Japan."

Five seconds of silence passed before the summon burst into laughter, a laugh that surprised both the old man and Sellzen.

"I see, I see. You at least have enough competence to summon me here. As thanks, I'll consider you my master. Let's get along and win this war. Without further ado, let's begin devising our strategy!"

"Ah… As you wish." The old man nodded reluctantly. "_Worst case scenario, I'll just force obedience._" He thought, looking back to the red markings on his hand.

* * *

Issei Was tired, extremely so, and it certainly showed. He only slept for a few hours. After lying in bed for over an hour, unable to go back to sleep, he finally sat up. He still felt numb.

"_So much for getting rest._" Issei groaned, begrudgingly opening his eyes.

"Good morning, Master." Saber's voice echoed within his head. It was strangely soothing,

"Hey, could you use sleep magic on me?" Issei asked in a flat tone.

Saber laughed, "Well, I can't, If you wanted someone who could do something like that, Caster would have been your best bet."

"Damn," Issei grunted, "Guess that makes sense… Can only a caster use magic?"

"No, it's not a Caster-exclusive ability. I knew an archer who could perform high-level thaumaturgy. What a servant can do is based on what they did according to their legends. I just practiced magecraft in life, so I don't have the capacity for magecraft... Oh, right, sorry. I meant magic."

"Did you call it something different when you were alive?" Issei asked.

"Something like that. When I was alive magic and magecraft were two different things, but that doesn't really matter. What's important is getting you acquainted with this current Holy Grail War."

"Alright." Issei said. "So, seven people are summoned into seven classes. What does that have to do with this 'Holy Grail'?"

"Yes. Servant and Master pairs compete for the Holy Grail and the last team standing is rewarded with it."

"What's so great about this thing?" Issei asked, crossing his arms doubtfully.

"The Grail is an all-powerful wish granting device. Any wish can be granted no matter how small or big." Saber's words made both issei's arms and jaw drop. "If you wanted to be rich, live long, or even go back in time and change history, the Holy Grail would allow you to. That's the kind of prize we're fighting for."

"Wait, so you're saying that if we win, I can have anything I want?" Issei said with a hopeful look.

"For the most part. There are some limitations, but for some reason I cannot remember. I don't know why, but ever since I was summoned, many of my memories have been a blur."

Issei jumped out of bed and onto his feed. He contained his excitement, and smiled wider than he ever had before. "_This is it, this is it! If we win, I can finally have what I've always wanted! Hallelujah!_"

Before long the doorbell rang, bringing him back to his senses. He quickly made his way down the stairs and to the door. As he opened it, he was face to face with two of his classmates. One was a petite girl with white hair and yellow eyes while the other was a handsome boy with blonde hair and silver eyes.

"Huh?" Issei blurted out. "Koneko, Kiba?" But before he could question why they were there, he felt his arm being pulled.

"Master, get back!" Saber leapt forward, putting himself between Issei and the two. At the same time, two weapons appeared out of thin air. One was blue and the other was red. They both had double-edged blades, but their wing-tipped handles were too long for them to be swords. They were more like javelins, javelins that floated in the air without support. "These two are dangerous!"

Saber glared daggers at the two, but before he could act, the two jumped back a short distance. Koneko's fists were clenched while Kiba held a sword in both hands. Both looked as if they were going to fight him.

"_Where'd those things and that sword come from?_" Issei thought, staring at the blade in his classmate's hands. "_Wait a minute, no, that's not important, I can't let this go any further!_" Issei ran towards Saber, whose back was to him, before putting a hand on his shoulder. "Saber, stop! They're from my school!"

Saber gave pause, his weapons lowering as he looked to Issei. "Are you absolutely certain?" He asked, looking Issei directly in the eyes.

"Yes, so stop fighting them now." Issei commanded, removing his hand from the Saber's shoulder.

Saber looked back at the two before nodding. The two floating weapons disappeared and he took a relaxed posture. At the same time, the tense air that he emitted also vanished. He looked back at the two curiously, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, alright then. Sorry about that. I guess I overreacted" Saber said, chuckling awkwardly.

"It's… alright." Kiba said, looking warily at the knight.

"Weird." Koneko said in almost a whisper.

"What are you two doing here? How did you even know where I live?" Issei asked.

Kiba scratched his head, looking around. "We're here to ask you to come with us. There is someone who wants to speak with you."

"Master, I'm against it" Saber said, looking at Issei with a worried expression.

Issei raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

"I can sense a demonic aura. Things usually don't go well when demons are involved." He answered, turning back to Koneko and Kiba.

"If I may." Kiba interjected. "I guarantee that you won't be harmed if you come with us, Issei"

Issei glanced between Saber's doubtful face, Kiba's reassuring smile, and Koneko's unchanging gaze. "_Well, if anything happens, I'm sure Saber can handle it.._" he nodded to himself. "Let's go with them."

Saber looked surprised, but nodded back. "U-Understood."

**END**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It hadn't been very long since Issei had woken up. Yet before even the sun could reach the top of the sky, he had already seen multiple impossible things. Now, he found himself where he'd never been before.

"_This is the Occult Research Club's room huh? Doesn't really have that feel to it._"

Issei was inside of the old school building, sitting in the middle of a luxurious room. It was dimly lit by a few small lights. The windows were concealed behind curtains, blocking out the natural light of the sun. Issei and Saber sat on a couch in the middle of the room. Across from them was Koneko alone, slouched forward and hugging her legs. Kiba had left not long ago, and since his departure, not even a single word was spoken.

"_Should I say something?_" Issei turned his head to Saber, as if trying to ask him telepathically.

Saber didn't seem to notice. For some reason, he and Koneko had locked eyes, like they were having a staring contest.

Issei frowned dejectedly, turning his head to look at the door behind him. "_Now I actually want Kiba to come back. No, anybody at all would be just fine._"

Practically on cue, the door suddenly opened. In walked Rias, Kiba, and a black haired girl. Not just Issei, but all three people in the room stopped staring at each other and instead turned focus to the three. Rias sat on the couch beside Koneko, while the other two stood behind and at attention. She looked relaxed, with her legs crossed and hands resting, but also had an air of authority floating around her.

"Thank you for coming." Rias said with a calm tone. "I'm Rias Gremory. You've already met Koneko and Kiba. This is Akeno, my right hand," The black haired girl bowed politely. "I know who Issei is, somewhat, but who are you?" She turned towards Saber.

"Call me Saber."

"Saber as in a swordsman? If that's the case, where is your sword?"

Issei looked down at the sheath on Saber's hip. Just like when they first met, it was empty. Issei tilted his head at the discovery, raising an eyebrow.

Saber shook his head at Rias. "That's a secret. Sorry, but I can't tell you that either."

Rias was unimpressed by the answer, looking as if she hadn't even heard him. Her eyes wandered, scanning the two up and down. She sighed disappointedly. "Alright then. How about this..." She repositioned herself, leaning forward with arms on legs. "I've been told that you have some prejudice against us because we're not human. More specifically, because we're Devils. So, how do we gain your trust?"

"I don't like you, but that's not the reason we need to keep private. In fact, I think It'd be better if we didn't involve ourselves with each other."

"That's not an option." Rias' smile dropped instantly and her eyes narrowed. "This entire town is my territory. Everything that happens here is _my_ business. If there is something going on that I don't know about, then I need to find out. Despite what you might think, we don't want to be your enemy. Remember that _you_ are the one who tried to start a fight. But even now, we don't want any trouble between us."

Saber's eyes softened slightly as he leaned back. He turned to face Issei. "It's up to you, Master."

Issei hesitated to answer, looking between his servant and the woman in front of him. He oddly felt inclined to accept. "W-well, let's try to get along. Even if you guys aren't human, I don't think we should fight if we don't have to."

"Good, then it's settled." Rias smiled again, her voice no longer carrying the same weight in it from a moment ago. "That's all I wanted to discuss. You can leave if you want."

On her offer, Saber stood up from his seat. Issei did the same, albeit reluctantly, and followed his servant out the door. As the door shut behind them, Rias let out a breath of relief and leaned back on the couch. "You all felt that, right? The Holy Power coming from him?" She asked

"He's beyond human-levels, and I think he was holding back too. He didn't have a sacred gear, not that I could sense. But I think he had a… a True Holy Sword." Kiba said, his fists clenching unintentionally.

"Which one though?" Akeno asked, tilting her head with a troubled look. "Could it have been an-"

"Enough, Akeno." Rias commanded. "Whichever sword it is isn't important right now. We shouldn't have to worry about that for awhile. What's important is figuring out who he really is and why he called Issei 'Master'. Did Issei give off any magical power?"

"Not even a little bit. He has a sacred gear, but it hasn't been awakened yet."

"Hmm…" Rias cupped her chin, whispering to herself. She looked back up to her colleagues. "Kiba, I want you and Koneko to keep an eye on them. If another Fallen Angel comes near them, don't interfere unless absolutely necessary."

"Yes." the two said in unison before leaving the room.

"What will _we_ do?" Akeno asked, tilting her head curiously.

Rias stood up from her seat, gesturing for Akeno to follow. "I've been told that another Stray Devil has wandered into our town, which means you and I will be going hunting."

Magical energy started leaking from Rias' body and into the room, manifesting as a large red circle appeared beneath their feet, glowing with a crimson light. The glow became brighter and brighter. In a sudden flash, the two were gone and the room was completely empty.

* * *

Saber and Issei made their way off of school grounds. The day was still fairly young, yet also fairly quiet. Across the street from them was a kids playground, with maybe a handful of children using it. There weren't any adults around though, nor any cars.

Abruptly, Issei stopped walking and turned to his servant. "Saber, I've got a question." he said, looking again at the empty scabbard.

Saber stopped as well, looking at Issei. "Is it about my sword?" he asked

Issei nodded his head eagerly. "You're a saber right? But all I've seen are those weird spear things. Are you sure you're not a Lancer?"

Saber scratched the back of his head, looking away from Issei as if embarrassed. "I'm positive, since I can't actually be summoned as any other class. I do have a sword but, well, it's not safe to talk about it in public. So it'd be better to wait until we're in private again."

"Oh, okay then… So what should we do now then? Go home?" Issei suggested.

"Before that, if there's a church nearby, I'd like to visit it." Saber asked with an almost hopeful look.

"A church huh? I didn't know you were a religious man." Issei said with a surprised look.

"Well, back when I was alive, God was pretty much everything to both me and my people. So many fights and parties just over his name." Saber answered, before shaking his head. "What about you? Do you believe in God?"

"I sorta do, but I haven't gone to church in a long time. The only one in town closed down when I was a kid. I don't know why it did though." Issei paused briefly, but shrugged it off. "Anyways, it's all the way up there."

Issei pointed up towards a building a long distance away. It was larger than the trees and stood alone, above all of the other buildings. It was almost completely white, with a cross sitting at the top. Despite supposedly being unused, it looked well maintained, as if it was still being cared for. Saber smiled at the sight of it. After a moment, he finally averted his gaze.

"Well, let's get a move on. We have a long walk ahead of us." Saber confidently declared.

The two continued to walk, but with an actual destination in mind. Yet, they didn't manage to get very far. After a few minutes, as they neared a crossroad, something collided with Issei, causing him to gasp and his assailant to yelp. He was thankfully kept from falling by Saber, but the other wasn't so lucky.

Issei quickly recollected himself and realized what he ran into. On the ground in front of him was a young girl about his age. She wore a dark teal dress and had a white veil over her head. She resembled a nun, especially considering the silver cross around her neck.

Issei stared puzzled for a moment. "_Huh, a nun around here?_" he thought as he crouched down and offered his hand.

The girl took it, and as she stood up, Issei noticed her features. She had long blonde hair, that looked like it was made of actual gold, and bright green eyes.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." the girl said, bowing her head to Issei.

"Oh no, it was my fault." Issei quickly replied, waving his hands dismissively. "_Wow, she's really cute! She's just my type too… but what is she doing here?_"

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Asia Argento. Please, call me Asia." The girl said with a smile.

"I-Issei- my name's Issei Hyoudo." He replied sheepishly. He scratched his head, unsure of what to say. With hope in his eyes, he briefly glanced at Saber. Luckily for the three of them, he didn't seem to show any of the hostility he had earlier. In fact, he actually looked relaxed, for the first time Issei had ever seen.

"Um, Asia, are you new to town?" Saber asked, trying to break the ice.

Asia nodded her head. "I'm supposed to transfer to this town's church and arrived today. Although I got sidetracked and now I'm lost."

"How about joining us? We're on our way to the church as well."

She answered without hesitation. "Thank you so much!" She said cheerfully.

Together the three resumed their travel towards the church. At the speed they walked, it would only take a half hour. As they walked, Issei was quiet. Normally, he would be focused on the girl, making a note of her _features_. However, whenever he did, it would always lead to her smile. It was radiant, like she herself glowed. Every time he thought about it, about her, his left arm felt like it was burning. It wasn't enough to be painful, it was just an unusual feeling.

"S-so Asia, where are you from?" Issei asked.

"Oh, I used to live in Italy. Today is my first day in Japan." Asia replied.

"The church transferred you here without a guide or escort?" Saber asked, looking sincerely concerned.

Asia flinched, looking away nervously. "W-well, some things came up and nobody was able to come with. I didn't want to make them wait either."

"That's messed up." Issei commented, frowning at her explanation. "What was so important that they just let you go alone?" While he let out his outcry, both Asia and Saber looked away, laughing dryly.

"Well, it hasn't all been bad." Asia smiled, reassuring Issei. "I got to meet you two, and this one orange haired girl."

Saber's head snapped towards Asia. Instead of concern or worry, he looked almost frightened, yet in a disbelieving kind of way. "Orange haired girl?"

"Yes! She told me to walk in this direction, and that's when I bumped into Issei… sorry again about that."

"You don't have to apologize, Asia…but hey Saber, do you know someone with orange hair?" Issei tilted his head.

"I… think I do? I have no clue why, but I think I had some kind of history with a person like that. Who were they?" Saber started to trail off, muttering to himself incoherently.

Issei looked ahead of them, grunting with surprise. "Oh, we're already here."

The two looked forward as well, and saw the church ahead of them. It looked as good as it did at a distance, if not better. The Chapel had two large wooden doors on its front, with two tall window panes on both sides. There was no sign prohibiting entry, nothing that said the building was closed down.

Everybody continued to approach the church. However, Issei stopped in his tracks. He blinked rapidly and in disbelief, as he felt a familiar chill run through his body. His legs, his arms, even his mouth refused to move, like he was paralyzed.

"_I knew it. Something's wrong with the church._" He grit his teeth, commanding himself to move forward despite everything telling him to run. "Saber! Get Asia away from the door!" he abruptly shouted, catching the two's attention.

Saber didn't even hesitate as he acknowledged his master's command. In one fluid motion, Saber swept Asia off of her feet and jumped away to Issei's side. No sooner had two flying spears ripped their way through the doors. They looked like the one Yuuma used, albeit of different colors. One was blue, the other was yellow. After hitting the ground, they quickly disintegrated.

"W-w-what's going?!" Asia exclaimed, looking terrified at Issei.

Saber put Asia back on the ground, keeping his eyes focused on the church. What was left of the doors were ripped from their hinges, and out walked a pair of human-looking individuals. One was a male, wearing a gray trench coat and a hat. The other was a woman wearing dark red clothes.

"Master, those weapons. It's just like what that strange angel used. Which means that they are also probably angels."

"I-I know." Issei said, trying to stop the shaking in his hands.

"Your orders?"

"What are you two doing here?" Asia demanded. "No, someone should have been here. What did you do with them?"

"Well, nobody needed to die, but you forced our hand. Now, two more will have to go." The man said, summoning another blue spear in his hand.

Asia was trembling, holding tightly onto Issei's arm. The burning Issei felt grew slightly more intense, but he didn't even notice.

The man threw his spear towards Saber, expecting it to skewer him. The moment it touched his shirt, however, it shattered into light, leaving him completely unharmed.

"T-that must have been a fluke!" The woman shrieked, throwing her own spear to much of the same effect.

"This isn't possible. Who are you!?" The man shouted.

"Sorry, looks like your attacks aren't good on me." Saber smirked, holding a hand out to his side. Four of his floating lances appeared, two on each side, and all blades pointed at the pair. In a flash, a double edged sword with a golden handle appeared in his hand. He glanced back towards Issei.

"T-that sword… there's no way." Asia muttered, looking at the blade with a glimmer of hope. "Durandal."

"Master, your orders?" Saber asked again.

"Isn't that obvious?" Issei asked, smiling wryly. "Kick their asses."

"Understood." Saber replied, gripping the sword with both hands.

"Don't worry Asia. we'll protect you." Issei said, keeping the girl close to him.

"I-Issei, you two should run. They only care about me." Asia said, looking pleadingly into Issei's eyes.

"There's no way we're gonna let them take you, not while we're alive. Just you watch." Issei replied, smiling confidently. "This isn't the first time he's dealt with these black angel guys."

**END**

**Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the others. I'll try to make sure the next is longer. In any case, I hope you all are enjoying the story up to this point. I have a few ideas I'm excited to try and see how they work out. Everyone's seen Saber, a little of Archer, but there's still plenty left.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It goes without saying that one really shouldn't defile a sacred place. Not only was it disrespectful to both the faith and the people that worked hard to keep things clean, it may also earn the aggressor a negative response. True enough, that was exactly what happened. The church that looked so well kept and preserved moments ago had its doors broken down, the windows smashed, and several holes filled its front side. All was the work of the Fallen Angels, the once-servants to God himself.

And as recompense, They needed to be punished.

For whatever reason, Asia was being targeted by the black winged-angels, and they would kill to get their hands on her. All that stood in between them, were Issei and Saber. While Issei kept close to the girl, for both their sakes, Saber raised his sword at the angels.

"What are your names?" Saber asked. The two looked at one another, before shooting confused looks at him. "It's a courtesy thing." he said plainly.

The male fallen angel scoffed, but answered nonetheless. "Dohnaseek."

The blue haired woman glared at him discontentedly, and then looked back at Saber. "Kalawarner."

"Perfect, then let's begin." Holding his sword in both hands, Saber suddenly disappeared from sight, only to reappear behind Dohnaseek. Before the fallen angel could react, Saber cut into the wings on his back. He let out a cry of pain, before spinning around and swinging his spear.

Saber dodged and moved to counter. However, a projectile shot by Kalawarner prompted him to block, allowing Dohnaseek to escape.

"I didn't even see him move." the male fallen angel said as he retracted his wings.

"Don't let your guard down old man." Kalawarner said, looking over at Issei and Asia. "Call for backup. I'll buy you time."

The woman lunged at Saber, using her wings to propel herself, only for her spear thrust to be dodged and countered. Saber brought his blade down, shattering it instantly and sending her flying with a single kick.

"Hm, guess I didn't need these." with a snap of his fingers, the lances vanished into thin air. Saber approached the two, who were now on the ground, before Dohnaseek raised his hand up. Nothing shot out at him; it was a sign to pause, and Saber complied.

"You… what is that sword?" The fallen angel asked.

"Is it not obvious?" Saber tilted his head slightly, practically playing with the sword with one hand. "Asia knew its name at first glance. Didn't you hear?"

"That's impossible! The Durandal has an owner, and you aren't…" The man's look of confusion melted away; his lips curving upwards. "Oh, I see. That explains things. You are a servant, aren't you?"

"_How does that guy know about the servant stuff?_" Issei asked himself. Suddenly, he realized something, and looked concernedly at Asia. She seemed to have calmed down, albeit only slightly. "_Shit… does he also know I'm the master? Wait, what happens if they attack me? What do I do now?_"

"I-Issei, calm down." Asia said softly, trying to comfort the boy.

"A Heroic Spirit whose main weapon is a sword. On top of that, if it really is the holy sword, Durandal, I think I've figured out who you are." Dohnaseek smirked, rising to his feet.

Saber stared emotionlessly at the fallen angel, before flashing a smile. "Sorry, but you're a bit off the mark." He tightened his grip on the supposed "Holy Sword" and narrowed his eyes on Dohnaseek. The black blade started to glow with a dim golden light. "If you want to continue fighting, this sword will be your end. Otherwise, I'm offering you one chance to leave quietly. Nobody needs to die here."

"What? You're going to let us go?" Kalawarner asked in disbelief.

"Neither of you are masters or servants right? So you don't have anything to do with this war."

Silence fell over the five. Saber, Issei, and Asia waited tensely as the fallen angels whispered to one another.

"_They're planning something._" Issei thought as he scanned his surroundings. The church was motionless and he couldn't see anything moving. There was nothing hiding behind or above the building either. However, he just barely noticed that Dohnaseek was looking at him. More specifically, something behind him and Asia.

He didn't hear anything, but acted nonetheless. Issei tackled Asia, moving them a few feet. At the same time, he suddenly felt a searing sensation in his leg. It was a familiar burning feeling, the same as when Yuuma had stabbed him two days ago. Unfortunately, it was just as painful as the first time around. It still felt as if he was on fire, or the fire was inside of him. The silver lining was that his adrenaline kicked in immediately, slightly easing the pain.

When the two separated, Issei could see another spear halfway through his leg. No sooner did the spear dissipate, allowing a large amount of blood to leak out. He looked around frantically, unsure of what to do or how to stop the bleeding. If nothing was done, he was probably going to die.

While panicking, Issei noticed Asia kneeling down next to his leg. She looked oddly calm, her hands hovering just above the injury spot.

"Asia?" Issei asked confused.

She didn't respond, focusing on his leg. Her hands suddenly started to glow, emitting a bright green light. As the light touched him, the pain itself faded completely. Even better, the hole itself rapidly closed. In a few short seconds, the only trace of harm was the blood stain on his pants.

Issei stared speechlessly, standing up without any issue at all. "Woah. That's amazing." he didn't stare long. After quickly remembering what situation he was in, he looked back towards where the spear came from, to see Saber clashing against a newcomer. She was a petite blonde girl dressed in black, with black angel wings and a light spear in hand. True to her stature, she didn't seem to be giving Saber much trouble.

"Master, are you alright?" Saber asked, looking back concernedly.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Issei nodded, still in slight shock.

Saber nodded back, before breaking the clash and swinging his sword. The blade broke her weapon in half and cut across the girl's chest. She screamed in pain, hastily retreating behind her colleagues. The three huddled together, Saber smiled. His sword glowed gold again, growing more intense by the second.

"Well, I tried, but I can't forgive you after hurting my master." Saber said, before raising the sword above his head. "Peerless unbroken hallowed: Durandal!"

Saber brought down his blade, like he was chopping wood with an axe. Considering the large gap between him and the angels, it at first looked like he was just swinging at nothing. However, as he swung, a beam of light jumped from the sword and rocketed towards the angels. Together, the fallen angels created three wide magic circles in an attempt to defend themselves. It worked at first, but the beam's strength was enough to break through their defenses. There was a short scream, but it only lasted a moment. The beam continued to travel, flying into the sky before eventually disappearing. The angels were nowhere to be found, save for a few black feathers falling to the ground.

The air quickly settled, the sword that Saber held evaporated like the light it produced, and Saber turned around to face his master. He did so just in time to see Issei fall to his knees, panting heavily.

"A-are you okay, Issei?" Asia asked, crouching down.

"This is worse than I expected." Saber remarked, scratching his head as he approached.

"What happened?"

"Well, how do I put this? Master… has practically no mana. Manifesting is something I can do well enough on my own, but the more strenuous stuff needs his direct support."

"Oh… so now… you tell me." Issei said in between breaths, earning a chuckle from his servant.

"I'm sure you'll be okay though. Mana or no mana, you're a pretty tough guy… Anyways, they're gone so we should be safe for now." Saber said, extending a hand to Issei. "What should we do now?"

Issei rose to his feet, still a little disoriented, but could stand on his own. "Since you guys both wanted to, let's go inside. Plus, one of those angels said something about killing someone."

The three made their way into the church, passing through where doors used to be. Unfortunately, the interior matched its newly-renovated exterior. There were chips of wood covering the ground, broken pieces of benches mixed in. The window panes in the back were shattered, and an unrecognizable statue laid on its side. It was very clearly the work of the fallen angels.

Issei and Asia hurried across the church, stopping in front of a person's body. It was an old man, and considering he was wearing mostly black robe with a silver cross like Asia's, he was probably a priest. Most of his clothes were drenched in blood. He had dozens of deep lacerations and impale wounds everywhere.

"This… is just too much." Issei said to himself, shivering at the sight of the corpse. "They must've tortured the guy."

"I'm sorry." Asia whispered under her breath. Her eyes were closed and her hands were clasped together, as if she was praying. Whilst she did so, Issei couldn't help but look away from the body. If there was anything that could distract him, he'd take the opportunity. He quickly found that opportunity when he noticed a bag a few meters from the body. It looked identical to Asia's, but a few blood stains suggested it was the priest's.

Issei picked up the bag, noticing that it was rather light. It felt like there was almost nothing in it. "_Why would a priest just have an empty bag like this?_" As he turned it upside down, the bag suddenly opened, and a small golden cloth fell into his hand. "_What's this?_" he said, examining the object. It was soft, with a fur-like feel, but its shine was unmistakably gold. He couldn't explain why, but Issei somehow knew that

Whatever it was, he decided to put the cloth back into the bag, closing it to make sure it wouldn't open on accident again. Just in time, as when he finished, Asia was standing up with a depressed look.

"Hey, are you alright?" Issei asked. Asia didn't respond immediately, clearly still taking things in. He tried, tried to think of anything that would make her feel better, and as he did he suddenly heard Saber speak.

"What kind of stupid God sends angels to kill their priests?" The two looked towards Saber, who was staring at the ground in discontent.

"P-please don't say that about God!" Asia pleaded. She didn't look angry or offended, just saddened.

Saber turned his head up to the two, his scornful expression completely gone, and in its place a look of confusion "Hm? Say what about God?"

"About him sending angels, you just said it." Issei reminded his servant, yet his face didn't change.

"Master, I didn't say anything." The two stared at Saber in silence, just as perplexed as he was with them. Saber didn't look like he was lying; he genuinely believed he didn't say anything, much less about God. "But more importantly, look at this." he said, pointing at the ground beside him.

When Asia and Issei came to see what he was pointing to, they saw some kind of magic circle. It wasn't particularly large, maybe the size of a small table, and filled with symbols and markings that Issei didn't recognize.

"Someone was trying to summon a servant?" Issei asked, receiving a nod from Saber.

"My guess is that it was the priest, but those Fallen Angels didn't want that happening. Which also means," Saber looked directly at Asia, causing her to flinch.

"Huh? Are you a master too, Asia?" Issei asked, looking surprised.

"N-no, I'm not. Well, I never planned to be one." The blonde girl stammered as she waved her arms. She quickly calmed down, and she looked solemn again. "Issei, Saber… You probably already know, but I wasn't actually sent by the church."

"Then why _did _you come here?" Saber asked, sitting down on one of the more-intact benches.

"A few weeks ago, that priest over there invited me here. He knew I was trying to run away from the fallen angels and wanted to help me."

"Why were those guys chasing you?" Issei followed up.

"Because… because of my gift." She muttered quietly.

"The healing thing you did with my leg?" Asia nodded.

"When I was eight years old, I came across a small dog. It was dying, so I prayed for it to get better. Suddenly, my hands glowed green and the dog was a lot better. After that, I was adopted by the Church and ordered to heal illnesses and injuries from people across the world. They called me a 'Holy Saint'. It was nice, being able to help others in need. But one day, I came across a young man with black hair. He was nearly dead, and asked for my help, so I healed him. I didn't know it at the time, but he was actually a Devil."

"And the Church didn't like that, so they branded the 'Holy Saint' as a witch." Saber asked, frowning in disapproval.

Once again, Asia nodded her head. "After they ostracized me, I didn't have anywhere to go. That's when I encountered a fallen angel. They promised me a place, and without any other options I accepted. I wasn't surprised when I found out that they just wanted my gift, but then I heard about them wanting to use me to fight in a war. That's why I ran away, and why I'm here now. And, well, that's no longer an option."

Listening to her story, Issei's fists clenched and shook. There were a number of things he wanted to say, particularly about the church that would exile her for such a stupid reason, but she surely wouldn't approve.

"Then if you have nowhere to stay, how about staying with us?" Saber asked, much to the surprise of both Asia and Issei.

"There's no way I could do that!" Asia stammered, her cheeks turning a slight red. "I don't want to burden you or your family."

"Uh, actually…" Issei scratched his head awkwardly. "My parents probably would probably encourage it." he explained, earning a surprised stare from Asia and Saber.

"We won't force you to do anything, but there's no way we're going to abandon you." Saber continued, Issei grunting in agreement.

Asia looked between the two boys."Well… If the both of you are sure about this. Then I'm fine with it." She said reluctantly, and bowed her head.

Behind his back, Saber smiled and gave a thumbs up to his Master. In turn, Issei breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about certain that his parents would allow her to stay, for multiple reasons.

* * *

The floor went thud as Issei's dad fell to his knees. The look on his face was one of complete and utter disbelief. His mother had a similar look, but she had tears in her eyes instead of shock. She was on the edge of crying, but out of pure joy. All the while, Issei stood next to Asia, too embarrassed to look at anyone.

"I-I never thought this day would come." Issei's mom said, her voice uneven and shaky.

"I had already lost hope. I thought our son would never bring home a girl." his father continued, pouring salt into his son's wounds.

"It's, uh, it's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Hyoudou." Asia said timidly.

"Oh please, just call us mom and dad."

"Dad!" Issei exclaimed.

"Asia dear, you can stay with us as long as you need to. We have a spare bedroom if that's fine with you." Issei's mom said.

"_Well, at least they're fine with it._" Issei thought, internally groaning to himself. "_Something bad is gonna happen. I can feel it._"

Asia was showed to her new room, whilst Issei made his way to his own room. After everything that had happened, he needed rest. Once he was able to get into his room, he tossed the bag to the corner and flopped onto his bed.

"Night, Saber." He said, his consciousness fading rapidly.

"Goodnight, Master… oh yes, remember that you have school tomorrow."

"...damnit."

He couldn't afford to dwell on it. He was just going to have to deal with it. Worst case scenario, he could just sleep during class. It wasn't exactly uncommon for him.

He expected his sleep to be quick and simple. He didn't have dreams often, so he expected a few seconds of black and then to be woken up in the morning. Unfortunately, he was anything but a fortunate man. Issei knew he was asleep, and it had to be a dream. However, he couldn't figure out why he was standing in a colorless white void.

"Seriously?" he asked the void sarcastically, throwing his arms up in defeat. "Alright fine, what is it this time?!" He called out. There was no reply. Of course there was no reply considering he was alone...

"Fou!"

**END**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Fou! Fou fou!" Issei heard a voice from the blank white void. He couldn't see anything, not until he looked down at his feet.

Nuzzling against his leg was some kind of animal vaguely resembling a squirrel with white fur and long wolf-like ears.

"Hello… whatever you are..." Issei whispered to himself, staring confused at the animal. The creature suddenly dashed away from Issei, wagging its tail, gesturing for him to follow.

Issei walked behind the creature, watching as it trotted across the vast emptiness as if it was its home. Though he walked for several minutes, the creature hadn't stopped moving, and he hadn't stopped following. Although without any landmarks, Issei could barely tell if they were going anywhere. For all he knew, he could've been running in place.

"_What kind of dream is this?_" He thought.

Eventually, Issei noticed something. The creature who he followed ran further and further away. Even after increasing his own pace, the distance between the two grew. He even took to sprinting after the creature, but still couldn't catch up.

In the midst of his run, he felt something catch his foot. Unable to stop himself, Issei fell face first onto the ground. Even though there was no difference in color between the ground and the rest of the void, he still felt a solid impact, When he looked up, the creature was gone, and Issei sighed, defeated.

He couldn't turn his head or even move his own body. Issei simply laid on the ground, staring into the white nothingness. While something behind him with a human-like voice laughed quietly.

"Hey, who's there?" he called out, still unable to move his head. The laughing stopped and there was a brief silence.

"Sorry, looks like time's up." The voice answered. It was oddly familiar, and aside from the feminine tone of voice, sounded like Saber. "Hope you had fun with Fou. Let's have a chat next time."

"Bu-wait a minute!" Issei protested, but there was nothing to be done. The white quickly faded to black, and there was the chime of his alarm ringing.

Issei suddenly opened his eyes, discovering that he was still in his bedroom. Sunlight just barely seeped through his window blinds, and his alarm clock played a soft melody.

"_Huh?_" He stared at the time displayed. "_Oh, it's time to wake up… that was really weird._" he thought to himself, getting out of bed and dressing himself, "_What was that? Who was that?_" he asked himself, promptly shaking his head. "_Whatever. I'll think about it later or something._"

Finished changing Issei opened his door, and with a surprised look on his face, he saw Asia standing in front of him.

"Oh, good morning." He said, smiling at the blonde.

"Good morning, Issei." She replied, reciprocating the same smile.

Issei noticed that her eyes were focused on his hand, his hand that was wrapped in bandages. "Oh yeah, this isn't anything bad. It's just to hide the red tattoo thing." he explained, flexing his hand to show it was fine, to Asia's relief. As he did so, he suddenly remembered the priest's bag that was in his room, and he grabbed it. "I forgot I was gonna give this to you yesterday." he said as he handed the bag over to Asia.

Asia accepted, taking the bag from him. "Thank you, that's what I came here for actually."

"You know what's in there," She nodded. "You're not planning on joining this war thing are you?" Issei asked, concerned.

Asia looked away, clenching the bag with both hands. "I don't know."

"Actually, if you don't join, then we don't have to fight each other. So there's that." Issei said reassuringly. Unfortunately, he could still see the uneasiness in her eyes. "Hey uh, after I come back, how about we get something to eat?"

Asia was taken aback, looking at Issei disbelievingly. "No, it's alright. You're already doing so much for me. I don't want to press my luck."

"Oh it's fine. You're a guest here so it would be rude if I didn't treat you. Besides, I know some good places that don't expensive."

Asia looked down at her feet; she was unmoving. Likewise, Issei waited patiently. What he was supposed to be doing, where he was supposed to be going, it was all put on pause.

"Thank you." She looked uneasy, confused for some reason, but she answered nonetheless.

"Alright, it's a promise then. See you when I get back" Issei said as he walked passed Asia. He walked out the front door with his eyes wide and a smile on his face.

* * *

Issei yawned, his eyes half open while he looked out the window beside him. The teacher at the front of the room's voice had turned into white noise about an hour ago. The chatter from his friends, and the periodic snide comments from many of the girls, none of it seemed to reach him. As much as he would've liked to, he couldn't just take a mid-class nap for some reason.

"Huh, _why haven't I asked about the tattoo yet? Saber would probably know about it…"_ He thought, looking at his bandaged hand. Suddenly, his eyes widened; an invisible light bulb above his head flashed on. "_Hey Saber. Are you there?_" He mentally asked. A few seconds went by as he looked around the room, and there was no reply. "_Damn, no telepathy huh._"

"_Oh, excuser me Master. I was distracted with something._" Issei suddenly heard Saber's voice in his head and nearly jumped out of his seat in surprise. "_But yes, i'm here. I didn't think you knew how to use telepathy._"

"_Well… I'm full of surprises._" Issei replied, smiling wryly. "_Do you hear everything I think?_"

"_Just what you intend to tell me._"

Issei sighed, relieved. "_Okay, that's fine then… anyways, what were you so focused on?_"

"_It's those Demons. I still can't figure them out._"

"_Do you still think they're up to trouble? They said they came in peace didn't they?_" Issei raised an eyebrow.

"_Demons always harass and destroy humans. It's sort of a natural part of life._" He spoke with an air of certainty in his voice, as if he was stating a fact, before he let out a sigh. "_But you're also right, and that confuses me. Rias Gremory called this her 'territory' which would also mean 'hunting ground', but she and her fellow demons aren't doing anything to anyone in this school. Nobody is being drained of their life force, or possessed, or anything. The only trace of magecraft I've found is a huge barrier around the school; a fairly strong one I might add._"

"_I guess they're protecting us then._" Issei concluded, shrugging his shoulders.

"_Well, hopefully you're right. To be honest, this whole world's strange to me and there's a lot of things that I don't understand… I'm going to continue my investigation. If you're in danger, just call for me._"

"_Alright… when you can, could you explain what the tattoo on my hand is?_"

"_Of course. The best time would probably be after school. I wouldn't wanna keep you distracted too long._" At Saber's comment, Issei chuckled to himself again. The explanation would have to wait for a while longer it seemed.

At the sound of the class bell ringing, Issei returned to his senses. He couldn't hear Saber's voice anymore, and felt as if Saber hung up on their call. Before he could get up and leave the classroom, he was approached by Matsuda and Motohama.

"Hey Issei. Are you sure you're alright? You looked like you were gonna pass out at any second." one of his friends asked, looking genuinely concerned at his bandaged hand.

"Yeah I'm fine. It's just been a long week." Issei answered, waving his hand dismissively.

"Is that so?" the three boys' heads turned to see, more so glare at, a girl approaching them.

"Kiryuu..." Matsuda and Motohama muttered, glaring at her both angrily and fearfully. However, she simply waved them off, stepping in between them to look at Issei specifically. After a few seconds of staring, she giggled, making sure it was loud enough for the boys to hear.

"Yeah yeah. I know what you're gonna say. 'I know you're lonely but have a little self control' and all that." Issei groaned, looking away from the girl and instead out the window.

Kiryuu laughed. "Oh come on. There's no fun if I don't get a good reaction."

"Did you come here just for that?"

"Actually no." Kiryuu stopped smiling, and pointed to the classroom door. "Prince Charming's looking for you. Said he wanted to talk about something in private."

"Prince… oh, Kiba." Issei said to himself, standing up from his chair and walking away from the three.

"Issei, you're not batting for the other team are you?" Matsuda asked, looking concerned at Issei.

Issei staggered, looking at his friends and Kiryuu appalled. "What?! Of course not! I don't even know he wants." he declared. Kiryuu gave him an unnerving grin, to which Issei quickly turned and left.

He exited the room, turning to see that Kiba who was leaning against the wall. Kiba's head was facing the ground; he looked concerned or uneasy about something. However as soon as he noticed Issei, he smiled at him. Unfortunately, Issei couldn't reciprocate, and had a somewhat distasteful look on his face.

"What's up?" Issei asked as he approached Kiba.

"Ah, Issei, good morning." Kiba came off of the wall, taking one last glance around them. He and Isse were the only ones in the hallway, and the doors were closed. "I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. We sensed a massive amount of magical energy coming from the church, and when we investigated, it was half-destroyed. Do you happen to know anything about that?"

Issei looked away, chuckling awkwardly. "Uh, yeah… Sorry about that. I definitely can't pay for repairs."

"The building doesn't matter, it's been abandoned for years and we certainly don't use it. But if you don't mind, I have some questions. By any chance, Is Saber nearby?" He asked, looking tensely at Issei.

"Umm no, he's not. I don't know where he is. I can call him if you want."

Kiba shook his head in response. "That's fine… Issei, do you know what a Holy Sword is?"

"Holy-Yeah, I think that's what Asia called Saber's sword." Issei answered nonchalauntly. He noticed that upon his response, Kiba had a puzzled look on his face. "Oh right. Asia's a girl I met after we left you guys yesterday."

"I see. Did she say its name? The name of the sword?"

"She said it was 'Durandal' I think."

Kiba's eyes widened with shock, but there was a tinge of relief and confusion on his face. Most of all, he looked worried, fearfully so. "Durandal huh… and it belongs to Saber."

"Is that a bad thing? Oh wait, yeah, with you guys being devils and all." Issei said, laughing dryly.

"Then my last question. What caused him to use so much magical energy? What was he fighting?"

"Well…" Issei scratched the back of his head, hesitant to answer. Fallen angels appearing within a devil's territory. Wouldn't that information be dangerous? However, as he wondered about the possible results, he recalled what happened yesterday; the pain that those angels caused. "Saber and Asia wanted to go to the church, but when we got there, a bunch of Fallen Angels attacked us. Saber kicked their asses, but we found out they already killed some guy."

Kiba stared at Issei silently, muttering something to himself. "Thanks, Issei… One last thing. From now on Koneko and I will be keeping an eye out for you; in case anything happens again, we won't let you get killed."

"_Well that's reassuring_." Issei thought, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Kiba turned and walked away, leaving Issei alone in the hallway.

Issei put his hand on his classroom door, but just before opening it, he noticed something was off. With Kiba gone, he was the only person present. Yet despite that, he had the feeling of being watched, stalked. As naturally as he could, Issei let go of the handle and backed away. If it was something dangerous, he had to make sure nobody would be caught in the crossfire.

He just barely reached the staircase before his danger alarm started blaring. There was no time left, he needed to know what he was up against. Issei spun around to face whatever was behind him, and at the same time saw a shiny metallic object. He threw his entire body to the side, trying to avoid whatever was flying at his head. A split-second later and It would have hit him square between the eyes, but instead it only took one of them.

Issei gasped, losing his footing and falling down the staircase. He quickly tried to recover, hurriedly pulling out the object that blinded his eye. The metal object was a knife, and as he looked up at the top of the staircase, he saw the thrower.

He was probably a guy. Given his physique, but Issei couldn't make out any features. The man's body was covered in a black cloth, and he wore a skull-mask. He walked down the stairs, unusually slowly, allowing Issei to pick himself off the ground and run. In doing so, he narrowly avoided a second knife, thrown by the assailant.

"_Fuck, who the hell is that?!_" he thought, running as fast as he could. "_Saber! We're being attacked!_"

"_I'm coming now, could you tell who was attacking you?_" Saber quickly responded.

"_No, just some dude in black with a skeleton mask!_"

"It's _Assassin… Master, can you get to the front yard of the school?_"

"_Trying!_" Issei answered, cutting off the call and switching focus back to running.

Thankfully, he was already on the first floor, and the front door was just ahead. He took another look behind him. Assassin was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a pair of knives in his hand. He threw them at Issei with the same speed and precision as the first, causing Issei to dive forward.

He crashed through the doors, somehow not shattering the glass, and landed on the concrete floor. Luckily, Issei braced himself before impact, but that also meant his arms took the brunt of the damage.

"_Why does this keep happening?!_" he asked himself, clenching his teeth as he tried to stand. He looked up, to see that the black-clad assassin stood over him. Although, despite the same attire and mask, this person had a different body shape. Instead of a knife, they had a serrated dagger in hand. They were taller and more bulky, like a wrestler. "_Saber, where are you?!_"

Assassin raised their weapon up, before suddenly jumping back and avoiding what looked like a laser blast. A moment later, he saw Saber land in front of him and rush Assassin. Instead of the gold and black sword from before, he was using a halberd. Assassin looked larger, more bulky than Saber, but was clearly less skilled. He was only able to flail the short blade around until Saber quickly disarmed him. He aimed the tip of his halberd and thrusted it into Assassin's chest. Assassin coughed out blood as Saber drove him into the ground with enough force to kick up dust.

Saber removed his halberd from Assassin's body, letting go and allowing the weapon to evaporate. After a few seconds, even Assassin's body did the same. Without a word, his body dispersed into countless particles.

"Master, are you alright?" Saber asked, holding his hand out for Issei.

"Y-yeah, sorta… not really." Issei answered, looking down at his arms. They were bruised and bleeding, but mostly intact. He sighed a breath of relief. At the very least, the bandages protected his right arm.

A few seconds passed before there were two pairs of footsteps heading towards them. As they turned, the two saw Koneko and Kiba running towards them. Saber reached out, preparing to summon another weapon, but Issei stopped him with a gesture.

"Issei, what happened? Are you okay?" Kiba asked, he and Koneko looking at Issei shocked.

"Something smells bad." Koneko said, covering her mouth and nose with one hand.

"Some guy attacked me. There's another one in the school too." Issei said, pointing back into the school. Even with one eye, Issei could see Saber's face turn from concern to something akin to fear.

"Multiple-then that means-Master. We need to leave, now!" Saber shouted.

It took only a split second for Issei to reach the same conclusion. Obviously, there was more than one Assassin, which meant they could be targeting multiple people at once; multiple targets meant multiple masters, including potential masters yet to summon their servants. School be damned, there was something much more important.

"Asia!" Issei shouted. "Let's go!"

"What do you-" before Kiba could finish talking, Issei and Saber were already gone. "Koneko, report this to the President. I'll follow them." The petite girl nodded, running off towards the Occult Research Clubroom.

* * *

Saber was supernatural; that was plainly obvious to Issei from the moment they met. However apart from making things—himself included—appear and disappear, he hadn't ever seen Saber perform superhuman feats. That changed very quickly, when Issei found himself several stories in the air and moving at near-supersonic speeds.

It was like being in an airplane, except there was no cabin to sit in or roof to be protected by and if an airplane bobbed up and down repeatedly. He could feel the wind pushing hard against his face, trying to keep him from moving as fast as he was. At his altitude, he could see a large portion of the city. The quiet roads devoid of cars, the houses identical to one another, the school growing ever distant, etc. it was breathtaking, a view one didn't get to have very often.

Unfortunately, it was mostly wasted on Issei. It wasn't the wind, nor his injury, that kept Issei from opening his still-working eye, but the fact that Saber was carrying him bridal-style.

"Sorry Master. If you were a girl, I could go a lot faster." Saber said, awkwardly chuckling.

"What's that supposed to mean? Also I don't like this any more than you do!" Issei shouted, struggling to keep his breath.

"The cooler something I do is, the better I do it. Which means I suck at doing lame things like carrying another guy like a wife… on that note, prepare for landing."

After one final descent, Issei could feel that they stopped moving. After being let down, Issei opened his eyes to see his house. The front door was open, but just barely. The two quickly entered, to find that everything looked normal. Nothing seemed to be moved, nothing out of place. Everything was just as Issei left it. However…

"Asia?! Asia?!" Issei's shout reverberated throughout the entire house. Terror in his eyes, he was practically begging for a reply, only to receive none. The house was untouched, but Asia was missing.

**END**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"We need to find them!" Issei shouted at Saber. "Find where they took her and rescue her!"

Saber looked down ashamedly; with a melancholic grimace. "That's…. Not possible."

"Why not?!"

"Master, Assassin possesses the 'Presence Concealment' skill. They might as well be completely invisible. Maybe if we had a magus with us, we could follow after them. But just us? We'd might as well be looking for footprints in the desert… which is even harder than it sounds by the way." His voice was clear, without a single uncertainty or hint of doubt, making his admission all the more painful.

"But that's…" Issei muttered, looking down at the floor. His fists clenched, shaking uncontrollably. His left hand glew a dim green light, but neither paid it any attention. In comparison to what was lost, it was meaningless.

Suddenly, the two heard a knocking sound coming from behind them. It was steady; calm. They turned around to see a group of teenagers wearing Kuoh Academy's uniform. At the front was none other than Rias Gremory.

Rias crossed her arms, stepping into the house and standing in front of the boys. "What's this about?" She asked in a serious tone.

Issei slowly turned to Rias. There was a spark behind his eyes, a spark of hope. He lowered his head.

"Asia, my friend, was kidnapped… Please, help us find her." He begged, clapping his hands together in front of him.

Everyone simultaneously stared at Issei, surprise written across their faces. He would have stood there forever if he had to, However, he only had to wait for a few seconds. As he heard Rias' footsteps, her feet came into view.

"You don't have to do that." She said, crossing her arms. "Besides, we've already started looking."

"W-what?" Issei asked as he raised his head, looking hopeful at the red haired girl. Behind her, Akeno smiled and laughed.

"When we got here, we noticed some Holy Energy was floating around, which means Fallen Angels were involved with the kidnapping. Of course, we can't just let them do whatever they want. So it's our responsibility to deal with them." Rias answered.

"So then, you'll help us find her?" Issei asked, smiling hopefully.

"Your friend has nothing to do with us, and someone from the church is as much an enemy to us as Fallen Angels." Rias answered coldly, looking at Issei with a serious face. But before he could reply, she smiled. "At least, that's what I would be saying. But you and Saber are interesting. Helping you means you owe us, right?"

Without hesitation, or more accurately without thought, Issei nodded his head. From behind, Saber looked at his master concernedly but kept silent.

"Then we have an agreement." Rias turned from Issei and looked at Akeno. "Do we have a trail?"

"Yep. It wasn't very well hidden." Akeno answered cheerfully. "We can leave whenever we're ready. But is it really a good idea for Issei to go along in his condition?"

"I-I'm fine." Issei said, convincing nobody.

"Master, I'm actually on their side on this one." Saber said. "You're seriously injured. If you go…"

"I've been through worse than this." Issei replied, looking serious at Saber. "Besides, Asia can heal this off, so we just need to save her and things will be fine. Until then… I can just bandage myself."

"I have a better idea. Issei, sit down." Rias said.

Issei did as told, and sat down on a couch. Akeno kneeled in front of him, holding her hands in front of his face and arms. Her hands glew with a green light, one that enveloped and started to heal his arms. It was like Asia's, but wasn't nearly as fast or as effective.

"We don't have time to heal you completely, but we can at least close those wounds on you."

"I-I see. Thanks." Issei muttered. "So, how do we get to wherever they took Asia?"

"Well, considering you're just human, one of us would have to carry you." Rias said, giggling at the thought.

Before Issei could even respond, he heard a quiet hum come from Saber. When he turned and looked at where the servant _should_ have been, he saw nothing but empty space. His look of confusion changed to a scowl. "_Saber!_" He screamed telepathically.

"_Sorry Master, but there's no way I can carry you a second time. Don't worry though, I'll still catch you if you fall._"

"_That's not the problem here!_" There was no response. Issei could feel that the line had been cut, adding to his irritation.

"Well then, I guess that answers that." Rias smirked.

Akeno stood back up, having finished her work. Although far from perfect condition, Issei's arms were mostly restored. At the very least, he couldn't see any fresh blood. He didn't have a mirror to check his eye, but the fact that he couldn't even open it meant it was going to be useless for the time being. He sighed, both thankful and regretful as he got to his feet.

"Uh, Rias. What did you mean by 'carry'?" Issei asked hesitantly.

A moment later, Issei heard a flapping sound. In front of his very eyes, the four devils sprouted jet black wings from their backs. They were nothing like the angel wings he'd seen before, save for the color. They were significantly smaller as well. Even if they were wings, they couldn't possibly allow for flight.

The five exitted the house. At the front door Rias, Akeno, and Kiba rose into the sky. To his disbelief, they were floating off of the ground, unsupported by anything. However, he wasn't able to savor the experience for long, as he soon felt himself being pulled. Suddenly, he found himself in the arms of a cute girl with snow white hair. More accurately, he was being carried bridal-style by said girl.

"_This is a little better, but still wrong._" Issei frowned disapprovingly. "_Nice view though_." he thought as they continued to rise higher. Promptly, they stopped rising, and started moving forward.

* * *

"Things are not going as expected." An old priest sighed.

He was a participant of the Holy Grail War, and although he had planned to reserve his strength until the war reached its climax, he didn't expect his current situation. He wasn't in the middle of battle. He wasn't commanding forces against an enemy. He wasn't even in any sort of danger. He was, however, standing outside of a bathhouse.

It was an unexpected request from his servant, and one he regretted accepting. He had been standing there for at least an hour and received no word from the inside. As he looked up, he could just barely see several dots in the sky. They were flying in the same direction of the church he used to summon Archer. However he had already destroyed his summoning circle.

Eventually, his waiting was over. The doors behind him slid open, and out walked a young japanese girl wearing a bright red t-shirt, smiling contently.

"Aah, that was refreshing. I knew it'd be worth it." The girl said.

"Was it really necessary?" the priest asked, frowning.

"Of course! If we're not in battle, we should enjoy ourselves. Plus, I didn't have any of this when I was alive. There's no way I'm letting this chance go."

"Archer, we don't have a large budget to be wasting."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, you're such a stick in the mud. We don't need a lot of money in the first place. All I need to fight is magical energy, so as long as you don't get yourself killed, we'll be fine. More importantly, where's your underling, Freed?"

"With lady Raynare. From what I've heard, they successfully captured a girl with a powerful healing sacred gear. They'll be extracting it from her tonight."

"What's a 'Sacred Gear'? Are those anything like Noble Phantasms?"

"Not exactly. You heroic spirits can destroy your own Noble Phantasms and keep fighting. If a sacred gear is removed from their owner, they die almost instantly. That, and Sacred Gears are gifts from god to humans exclusively,"

Archer frowned disappointedly. "I'm guessing you have one too Master? You're god's faithful servant and all."

He scoffed. "No, not me. I wasn't lucky enough. Although, I guess my brilliance could be called a gift. I accomplished quite a lot during my time with the Church. I even had a team working with me on many experiments."

"Uh huh… While listening to that sounds fun and all, I think this extraction stuff sounds more interesting." She said as she began walking away from the priest.

"Don't interfere with them." He ordered sternly. Archer groaned, but he ignored it completely. "The last thing I need is for you to get us in trouble. I already have somewhere I need to be… and I think it will be even more interesting for you. You've heard of Excalibur yes?"

Archer's eyes lit up as she heard the name, spinning around to face her master. "Wait. as in _the_ Excalibur?" he nodded his head, smirking. "So then has Saber not been summoned yet?"

"I don't know, but that isn't important. We're leaving." He commanded, walking away from the building. Archer followed behind, her arms crossed and looking down as she walked.

"Has _that_ Saber's been summoned? If I'm here, maybe she will be." She muttered to herself.

"By the way, Archer," The priest called. "Between just us, what would you say are our chances against an angel or a devil?"

"Huh?!" Archer looked offended by the question. "Isn't that obvious? It wouldn't even be a competition. It'd be like an ant trying to fight an elephant, if the elephant could use guns!"

"Now now, I just wanted to be sure." He said in a calm tone. "Now then. We have a piece of a holy sword to collect."

* * *

"_I'm getting tired of churches._" Issei thought as he stared at a pair of large wooden doors. Beside him were Kiba, Koneko, and Saber. Akeno and Rias, on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen. Instead of landing alongside them, they continued flying past the front of the church, descending somewhere near the back.

"Is it really a good idea to go in through the front?" Issei asked, checking their sides and backs for any movement.

"They already know we're here." Koneko answered, cracking her knuckles.

"We didn't exactly hide ourselves." Kiba said before two swords appeared in his hands. Saber stared wide-eyed, but remained silent as the blond boy handed one of the blades to Issei. "You also might want to step back."

Issei looked confused at Kiba, but did as told anyways. He then watched as Koneko stepped in front of the door and reeled her arm back. She threw her fist into the middle doors, and as if it was just shrapnel, they were sent flying. After a moment, there was a collective group of pained shouts coming from inside, followed by a loud crash.

"_Holy shit…_" Issei thought, his entire body gone stiff in fear. "_Never piss her off._"

The petite girl walked calmly into the room, with Issei and Kiba following. The inside was dimly lit, but they were still able to see their opposition. They were surprised to find that in front of them was but a single one person. There wasn't another figure in sight, just a young man with white hair, He was sitting on one of the benches, looking back at them surprised.

"Huh?! You're all here really early." he said, staring blankly.

"Who are you?" Issei asked, showing the same amount of confusion.

"Right, right." He muttered as he stood up, holding a white handgun in one hand and a sword-hilt in the other. "The name's Freed, no need to say yours. You must be the devils I was warned about. Since I'm an exorcist and all, now that you're here, I gotta kill y'all..." he paused, looking at Saber. "Hey, that's a pretty cool outfit. Mind if I take it from you after you're dead?"

Saber looked unsure of how to answer, glancing down at his clothes before turning his head to Issei and shrugging.

"Hey! Where's Asia?!" Issei shouted, drawing Freed's attention.

"Oh, the fake-nun girl. She's underground, about to get relieved of duty." he said, smiling gleefully and pointing to the fireplace behind him.. "Right down here, but if you want in, you need to get through me first." he flipped a switch on the sword hilt, and a bright white light shot out from it and took the shape of a blade.

"_That's a lightsaber…_" Issei said, ogling the weapon.

Saber sighed at his Master, "Kiba, Koneko, can one or both of you handle this guy?"

"I can do this alone." Kiba answered.

Saber snapped his fingers, and a pair of lances appeared. With their blades pointed at Freed, their tips started to glow bright. Simultaneously, they fired two beams of energy, causing Freed to dodge out of the way. The beams utterly destroyed the fireplace, revealing a stairway leading down.

"Hey hey! That's unfair!" Freed said angrily, pointing his gun at the four. He fired a bullet, only for it to be blocked by Kiba's sword. He rushed forward at Freed, quickly pushing him back and away from the revealed stairs.

The group, now down to three, went deeper into the building. They could hear the two fighting, the sound of metal hitting metal and gunshot after gunshot. It all soon faded the further they descended. Eventually, they could hear a different sound. There was a low-pitched chanting created by multiple voices. Deeper down, and they could see the end of their downward climb.

True to Freed's words, they found themselves in an underground chamber, one considerably larger than the building above. Issei quickly scanned the room, finding Asia on the opposite side. She was being hoisted up by two cloaked figures, attaching her to a large cross-like device with metal chains. Complex circles and symbols covered the body of the cross.

Standing in front of the machine was none other than Yuuma, with a pair of black wings sticking out of her back. She was most definitely a fallen angel. Hearing their footsteps, she turned her head, looking both surprised and angered by their presence.

His first thought was to free Asia from the machine. However, what stood between them was a small congregation of people.

Without hesitation, Yuuma conjured a spear of light and threw it at Issei. Saber moved to intercept, knowing it wouldn't affect him, but Koneko destroyed it before it could hit.

"Issei, Saber, don't let her escape." Koneko said quietly, jumping into the middle of the crowd.

Saber and Issei used the chance to cross the room mostly unimpeded. The closer they came, the larger the scowl on Yuuma's face grew.

"Y-Yuuma…" Issei hesitated, his left hand clenching tightly. "Let her go."

"Why should I? Did you make her your girlfriend after just one day?" Yuuma asked before bursting into laughter. "No, that's not possible. As if any girl would actually like you."

"You can't win, certainly not against me." Saber said, summoning a curved sword into his hand.

"That might be true, but who's to say?" She asked, smirking maliciously.

Saber tightened his grip, before his face changed from composed to fearful. He pushed Issei to the side, jumping away to avoid a volley of throwing knives. They didn't come from Yuuma, they couldn't have.

"Master, be careful! She's Assassin's master." Saber shouted, blocking another salvo with his blade.

Issei looked up at the ceiling, only to see three Assassins armed to the teeth. He looked back at Yuuma, who hadn't moved an inch. She was relaxed, without a single ounce of fear.

"You thought a pair like you could do anything?" Yuuma asked, turning to the men still holding Asia. "Hurry it up!"

The number of Assassins was increasing. First there were four, then ten, then twenty. All of them acted differently, as if they were entirely different people. At the same time, they were coordinated too well to be just a team. They acted like a single being, closing off any possible openings for counterattacks. The numerous weapons he summoned, from swords to spears to axes, only served to keep his head above water against the onslaught.

"_What do I do? What can I do?_" Issei thought frantically, his eyes darting between each of the Assassins. "_No, that's it. If we can save Asia, then we don't even have to win against those guys yet._" before Issei could even act, he saw a bright light in his peripheral. He moved, avoiding a spear of light thrown at him.

"Now, let's finish where we left off shall we? This time, there won't be anyone to save you. Not even your devil friends." Yuuma said, raising another spear. "It was really surprising you know, to think that you stooped so low as to side with devils. But then again, that's what humans do."

"Shut up!" He shouted, holding up his fists. He charged at the fallen angel, trying to land a hit or two in. However, she brushed him off, swinging the pole of the spear into his stomach and knocking the wind out of him. As he tried to stand back up, he glanced towards Saber and Koneko. Both were occupied, albeit the latter in a significantly better position than the former.

"Like I said, they can't help you. Nobody can."

"Saber, use your sword beam thing!" Issei shouted. However, there was no response, verbal or physical. Saber deployed six of his lances, used nearly a dozen different melee weapons, but he didn't use his "special attack". Watching him struggle, Yuuma laughed again.

"Before I kill you, how about I let you in on some info." Yuuma said, crouching down to Issei's level.

Suddenly, Issei felt a sharp pain in one of his legs. He gasped, unable to scream and barely able to breath. He looked back and saw a light spear going through his leg.

"There's two reasons your servant is so weak. One is that he can't use his true Noble Phantasm. I don't know why, but he doesn't have it, so he has to borrow his old friends'. The second reason is you. If you had any magical energy at all, or if someone else summoned him, things might be different, but you're just too weak. You're better off dying."

Yuuma stood back up, pulling the spear out of his leg and pointing it at his head. "Anything you wanna say back?" She asked, grinning gleefully.

"...maybe you're right…" Issei said weakly. "Yeah, I suck at a lot of things. I don't even know half of what this whole Holy Grail War thing is. Maybe I should've died that night."

Yuuma reeled her weapon back, but before launching it into his skull, she noticed a green emanating from him.

"But I'm not gonna die, not yet." Even with his injury, Issei pushed himself off of the ground. Even with the hole in his leg, he stood on his feet. He wobbled, and every ounce of pressure was excruciating. "Not until she's safe, I won't just lay down and die."

He took a single step towards Yuuma, clenching his teeth. More than just his leg, Issei felt his insides twisting and turning. He could feel his heart stopping and starting, his lungs collapsing and reforming. But he pressed on. He took another step, and the fallen angel stepped back. Her spear lowered, and his fist raised.

"So just, shut up!"

And for just a moment, an instant his brain didn't even register, he heard a roar. It wasn't from any animal he knew. It was monstrous and otherworldly; a roar that shook him down to his core. It was also a roar that resonated throughout his very soul.

The moment he threw that punch, he could hear the roar again, and he could see that his fist was covered in a red gauntlet; a gauntlet with a bright green gem on it.

**END**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

From deep beneath the church, a new power was let loose. A bright green light filled the underground chamber, and even the building above trembled. A roar, inaudible to regular humans, resonated throughout the chamber and escaped to the surface. Hearing the monstrous howl every animal in the surrounding forest fled, fearing for their very lives.

And at the same time, there was a solid impact and a pained yelp. The several dozens of people inside of the chamber, who were fighting just a moment ago, turned to see a Fallen Angel leaning against the wall. Issei stood a few feet in front of her, his fist stretched out. His left forearm was clad in a crimson red gauntlet with two golden horns and a green gem on the back of his hand.

He had just thrown a punch with all of his strength. Yet despite his current state, he hit harder than he should've been able to. It was at least twice as strong as his full strength. He hadn't re-adjusted his posture, frozen with surprise as what he just did.

"What… the hell?" Issei said to himself, staring at the red gauntlet. It didn't look or feel like metal. It was rigid and tough with a feeling much like lizard scales. As he brushed his other hand against the gauntlet, he noticed that the tattoo on his other hand changed. One third of it was faded out, leaving behind only a few blurred marks.

"That's…" Yuuma growled as she picked herself back up. "Your sacred gear?"

He heard the name before, from the very same girl that was in front of him now. She attacked him because of it, tried to kill him because of it. Even now, the name confused him, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it now.

Having bought himself a few seconds, Issei reassessed his situation. His heart was beating wildly, faster and erratically. His breathing was unusually heavy. His body ached and burned, yet he felt stronger than ever before. He looked to his side, to see his comrades in action.

Saber was doing far better than he was a few seconds ago. He was faster, he could fight back, and was slowly turning the tables on Assassin. The six floating lances he used increased to eight, and he was holding Durandal once more. Issei saw Saber's face, he was smiling. A thought popped up in Issei's head, a belief that victory was achievable.

"Idiots! Hurry up with the machine!" Yuuma shouted at the figures holding Asia.

Issei shifted focus back to Yuuma, who quickly recovered. She glared daggers at him, creating a large blade out of light. She lunged at him, but just as she brought it down, he sidestepped and easily avoided. He clenched his fist again and punched. Yuuma dodged, changing her swords to lances and hurling them both from a distance.

"Boost!" Issei heard a voice in his head, and felt another jolt of energy. He stepped aside, avoiding the incoming projectiles.

"_I really am moving faster. This Sacred Gear thing is awesome!_" Issei thought, grinning to himself.

The fallen angel tried again, throwing knife-like constructs at Issei. He ducked underneath before planting his foot in the ground and dashing forward. He reeled his fist back again, but missed when she dodged. As he came to a halt and turned, he heard an unnatural cracking sound. His leg suddenly hurt even more, like something was seriously damaged. Overwhelmed by the sensation, he immediately lost his footing and slipped.

"_It makes me faster and stronger, but not tougher?_" Issei groaned, but rolled away from an incoming thrust. He tried to stand up, feeling immense pain in his leg. "_I really can't take much more._" He looked at his arms to see the closed wounds starting to open back up. He looked at Asia, to see that she almost fully affixed onto the cross-shaped device.

There wasn't a moment to waste, but just as Issei prepared to attack again, he heard the voice again.

"Burst!" Suddenly, the well of energy that built up in his body was gone. As if an explosion went off inside of him, his strength vanished completely. He fell to his knees, barely able to keep himself up.

Yuuma burst into laughter at the sight of Issei grovelling in front of her. Her fear and confusion was gone, to Issei's irritation.

"Well Issei, looks like time ran out." She said, walking casually towards Issei. "You almost had me worried for a sec. But now I can see it was just a Twice Critical. I can't believe I wasted my time with you for just that." She raised her blade up, holding it just above the back of Issei's neck. She lifted it, and stopped before bringing it down. "Y'know, I have an idea." She said before withdrawing the blade.

"I don't even need to kill you. You're gonna collapse anyways. So just before you do." She approached Asia, still unconscious and fully attached to the cross. She raised one of her hands, and a magic circle appeared in front of her.

"D-don't touch her!" Issei demanded, unable to move his body.

In response to her gesture, the cross started to hum and glow. At the same time, the girl attached to the device weakly opened her eyes.

"I...Issei?" Asia whispered weakly, seeing his terrified expression.

Green and black electricity sparked from the machine, and Asia began to glow. She screamed, as if in pain, as the light became more intense.

"Asia!" Issei screamed He tried to force himself to move, but his body wouldn't obey his commands.

"Oh don't worry. You'll both be dead very soon." Yuuma said with a gleeful smile.

Asia looked to be in great pain, gritting her teeth instead of screaming. Her body shook uncontrollably. She wasn't even able to stop her hands from spreading and clenching rapidly. Her chest started to glow green, growing brighter and more opaque. Eventually, the sphere extended out of her chest. Two silver ring-like objects started to appear, causing Yuuma's smile to widen.

Suddenly, the light changed color. The green turned to white, and the rings sunk back into her body, much to everyone's confusion. The sparks of electricity turned into three bands of white light that surrounded her body, spinning rapidly. In a flash they exploded, connecting and transforming into a bright blue pillar. The pillar brightened and condensed before magical energy flooded through the chamber until finally, the pillar disappeared.

Asia was not attached to the cross anymore, but sitting beneath it. Like the rest of the room's occupants, she stared speechlessly. Something appeared in front of her, _someone_ was in front of her: a young girl with light blue hair and half-elven ears. Her clothes resembled that of a princess; a beautiful yet simple blue and purple dress with two long tails, thigh highs and gloves, and a golden tiara on her head. In one of her hands was a three-ringed staff almost as long as her. She was most definitely a heroic spirit.

She looked completely out of place in the decrepit dungeon-like chamber. Her presence alone offset the atmosphere, much like a breath of fresh air, or a rainbow after the storm. The elf-like princess looked around the room, before turning to Asia and offering her hand.

"Servant, Caster… Master are you alright?" She asked with a look of concern.

"Thank god." She whispered to herself, before nodding her head tiredly. "Please, help Issei and Saber." she pleaded.

"Okay." Caster turned back, pointing her wand at the cloaked targets. Most if not all of the Assassins immediately retreated, disappearing into thin air and leaving behind the humans that attacked Koneko to suffer their fates

The young girl's mouth moved too quickly to form words, yet she wasn't just flapping her lips randomly. It would almost unnatural, inhuman. Subsequently, multiple large magical circles appeared around her. Each circle suddenly ejected beams of light, firing like bullets out of a machine gun. Although Koneko was untouched, it only took a few seconds for her to be standing alone. After the beams stopped firing, she was surrounded by nothing but smoke and dust.

"T-that's not possible." Yuuma stuttered, stepping back fearfully. "That many spells… Assassin! Get back here!" She screamed, but received no response.

Ignoring the fallen angel, Caster approached Issei, raising her staff above his head and mouthing something else. Whatever she was saying was again incomprehensible, yet when she finished, his wounds were gone. Not just the injuries on his arms and legs, but even his eye was restored completely. He was as good as new.

"Uh, thanks…" Issei muttered, looking surprised as he stood up without any pain. Caster didn't seem to hear him, or rather, she ignored him and approached Yuuma.

Yuuma looked frozen with fear. Rather, she actually _was_ frozen where she stood. Everything about her posture screamed that she was about to turn tail and run for her life, yet she couldn't.

"What is this?! There's no way she could've summoned a Heroic Spirit!" Yuuma shouted, glaring at Asia. Without saying a word, the blonde girl took out a small gold-colored cloth. Both Yuuma's and Issei's eyes widened.

"_So she really did summon one…_" Issei thought to himself, shaking his head and shifting his attention. He looked back at Saber and Koneko, who were approaching him. However, he noticed that other people were appearing from the staircase. He sighed with relief, recognizing the intruders as Kiba, Rias, and Akeno.

"What? How did more of you get i-" Yuuma fell silent, noticing a clear bag of black feathers in Akeno's hand.

"We caught some of your friends trying to enter after we did. They weren't fast, strong, or even smart. It was kind of like taking out the trash or swatting bugs." Akeno explained, looking as nonchalaunt as ever.

"They _did_ tell us some interesting stuff before they died." Rias said. She looked at Issei with Saber, and Asia with Caster, before looking back at the fallen angel. "You're not Assassin's true master, are you? Looks like you don't have any command seals."

She was right apparently. Issei didn't have a chance or reason to notice before, but now he did. Just like him, Asia had a red tattoo on her. Albeit, it was a different pattern and stretched across her forearm instead of her hand, but it was clearly there. No matter where he looked on Yuuma, there was nothing. Aside from the mark he left on her face, she was clean. The fact that she didn't even try to dispute seemed to confirm her claim.

"That actually makes this easier." Rias snapped her fingers, and a red magical circle appeared over Yuuma's head. "If you're just a regular fallen angel like your colleagues, killing you won't cause any complications. Any problem with this?" She asked, looking at Issei.

All things considered, there shouldn't have been hesitation. Yuuma had lied to, lured and tried to kill Issei. The only reason he was alive now was thanks to contracting with a servant, and subsequently joining a war he knew nothing about. The same went for Asia, more or less; both of them were in situations they shouldn't have been in. It was all because of this woman. Killing, or letting her be killed, would prevent her from causing trouble later. Yet Issei couldn't green light the action.

Issei wanted to turn away from the scene, and allow things to happen without him. However, before he could do so he heard something, a voice he had all but forgotten.

"Issei. Please help me."

He could hardly believe what he was seeing. The extremely revealing skin-tight black clothes that Yuuma wore were gone. Her wings were also nowhere to be seen. Instead, she looked just as she did when they were on their first date. Her devilish visage was also replaced by a soft and fearful facade.

"I know what I did was wrong, but it wasn't my fault. I was just following orders from my superiors. I… I still love you! I never forgot about our date, the time we spent together. So please, don't let me die here."

It was an obvious ploy; it couldn't have been anything else. She was most definitely trying to save herself, but it wasn't even just that. She chose to take the form of his first girlfriend, knowing that it would affect him. He felt many emotions; the green gem on his glowing in response. He knew exactly what he wanted, but as she was, he was practically powerless.

Issei lowered his head, shutting his eyes closed. "Rias… please do it."

In response the red haired girl's hand, and the red magical circle, glowed brighter. "With pleasure." There was a flash of red light, accompanied by an ear-piercing shriek. Both faded quickly, and the room returned to normal.

The fallen angels were gone, at least for now. Asia was safe, for the most part. However, there was no celebration of their success. On the contrary, another fight seemed about to start, as both Saber and Caster stared at one another intensely. The devils distanced themselves, expecting the two to fight. Fortunately for everyone, Durandal vanished, as did Caster's staff.

"Thank you, Caster." Saber said, smiling disarmingly and holding out his hand. "We could've done that without you."

"If my Master trusts you, then I do too." Caster reciprocated and shook his hand.

Watching the two heroic spirits, who according to the rules of the war should have been at each others' necks, having a friendly conversation was off putting. Everyone else looked at the two confused, but couldn't come up with the right words.

"You're the seventh, right?" Saber asked. Caster nodded back. "How about we work together. Y'know, against the others. Your healing magecraft is really impressive."

Caster looked back at Asia, who still looked stunned. Though Asia didn't respond, her answer was clear enough. "My Master's okay with it."

"_Oh, an alliance._" Something that they all seemed to forget about. While the war required all servants to fight one another, it didn't have to be immediate. Alliances could be formed just like in any war, at least until those allies were the only ones left. Although, considering their masters' circumstances, the result of that eventuality was anything but certain.

Rias suddenly walked over to Issei, pulling his hand towards her. She hummed quietly, curiously examining the red gauntlet. Her eyes widened with surprise. She mumbled something to herself, looking up at Issei with a jealous face.

"W-what is it?" He asked, glancing between her and their hands. They were touching… he was practically holding hands with the prettiest girl in the school. Although, her unsatisfied face prevented him from enjoying this moment to the fullest.

"This explains a lot. Your sacred gear, it's an extremely rare one. Though at first it looks like a Twice Critical, which isn't much, it is much much more than that. This is the Boosted Gear; the gauntlet of the Red Dragon Emperor. It doesn't just double your strength, but it does so without limit. Although it takes quite a long time to power up, ten seconds per each multiplication. You're extremely lucky to have something like this." She smiled, letting go of his hand.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Issei scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "_How do I make the thing disappear? Can I just..._" it was a longshot. If his will to fight was what summoned it, perhaps his will could also force it to disappear. He imagined the gauntlet disappearing, and to his surprise, it worked. The Boosted Gear had answered his wish, and was gone. "_Oh, that was easy._"

"Well, now that we're done here, all that's left is to go home."

"...Right." Issei looked away nervously. "Forgot about that."

"Worried about your parents? I wonder what they'd think about you and Asia being missing this late." She asked, giggling at the boy's misfortune. "Hmm… why not just tell them you were busy with club activities."

"I'm not in any clubs though."

"Well, as it so happens, the Occult Research Club has an open spot or two." Rias offered.

"Really? You'd do that?" He smiled excitedly.

"It'll benefit both of us. News is sure to spread about you being the owner of the Boosted Gear, meaning you might be targeted by other devils or fallen angels. But if everyone believes you belong to me, you'll be better protected from those challengers. You at least won't have to worry about people using underhanded methods to challenge you."

"_Belong to you huh? Could have worded that a little better._" Issei thought, smiling wryly. He shook his head of the thought. "What does this do for you though?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Rias looked at Issei in disbelief. "A one of a kind Sacred Gear that can kill a god, and a Sacred Gear that can instantly heal any injury. Let's just say, if either of you died here, I would've definitely brought you back. But that's a conversation for another day. Do we have a deal?"

He most certainly wanted to roll back the conversation. His ears were working; he definitely heard her talking about resurrection and he wanted to hear more about it. However, it was clear that she had no intention of letting that happen at the moment. His only option was to answer her question, and he did so without hesitation. "Alright, then I'll join."

"Perfect." Rias snapped her fingers, and her fellow devils gathered around her. "We'll see you tomorrow then… oh yeah, remember to show Asia how to get to school."

"Huh?" Asia looked up at Rias confused. "But I don't-I'm not a student."

"Sure you are. You're a foreign exchange student who's come to japan. Your uniform will come in the morning." without giving her a chance to retort, Rias snapped her fingers again. She, Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba were surrounded by a large red magic circle, and disappeared without a trace.

"Asia, are you ready to go-" Issei said, before suddenly being tackled. He froze with his arms up, looking down to see blonde hair at his chest. Asia's arms wrapped around him, squeezing tightly. If not for Caster's healing, he might've been crushed to death then and there. But more than just the immense amount of pressure around his waist, he felt a soft shaking coming from her. Unsure of how to respond, he slowly lowered his arms and put one hand atop her head. He looked to his side, where Saber held a proud thumbs up. Caster on the other hand, looked uneasy about something.

"_It's been a long day… no, a really long few days._" Issei sighed heavily, letting himself rest for a few minutes. In just three days, he had discovered the existence of devils, angels, spirits, and magic. The cherry on top, he befriended a stunningly cute girl and was on good terms with some of his school's most popular students.

Part of him certainly missed the old days, where he enjoyed his routines and daily cycles. Yet he had few regrets about where he was now. The pain and confusion, fear and anger, it was all made worthwhile. They were far from being done, and things were most certainly going to become more difficult. It was inevitable, it was fate.

**END**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"My name is Asia Argento, it's nice to meet you all." Asia said, bowing her head to the masses. From just her introduction, everyone was surprised. She wasn't just pretty, but had a kind demeanor and was as fluent with the language as someone born and raised in japan. The class in front of her erupted into whispers. Some were questions of where she came from, others were discussions on how to ask her out, and others were ideas on how to prevent those confessions.

"Issei, look at this girl!" one of Issei's friends tugged on his arm. He turned his head, and noticed Issei's lack of a reaction. "Hey, you feeling alright?"

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. I'm actually feeling a lot better than usual." Issei answered. It was obvious by the lack of dark spots and openness of his eyes. He looked like a new Issei.

"Are you sure you didn't turn gay?"

"Huh?!" once again, Issei looked at his friend with disgust, as well as a hint of betrayal. "Hey a lot's been going on for me."

"Yeah I could tell, but it's still not like you to ignore a pretty girl."

Issei paused, as if something prevented him from speaking. Although his throat was clear, he couldn't bring himself to speak. Nonetheless, he persevered, shaking his head of hesitation and opening his mouth. "That's because she lives with me." he said, feeling his heart pumping quickly. He braced himself for the response. If the rest of the class found out, his life would only get more annoying. However, Issei's friend's face was a look of complete disbelief.

"Yeah right." he scoffed at Issei. "It's fine though. Everyone's got secrets."

"_Thank god._" Issei thought as his friend turned around. He sighed in relief, turning his focus to Asia. in doing so, he noticed her smiling at him. Thankfully, nobody but him seemed to notice. Oddly enough, she didn't cover up the tattoo on her hand like he did, yet nobody seemed to question it. He was surprised. Something like that should've gotten at least one or two people curious, but not even one.

Whatever the reason was, he could ask about it when they were alone. He rested his head on his hands, preparing to sleep through class once more. His consciousness quickly faded. His eyelids lowered as Asia took the seat next to him. He wasn't at all bothered by the disgusted murmurs coming from his classmates.

Although his eyes were shut, and he was quickly drifting into sleep, he could hear something in the back of his mind. Rather than his own thoughts, he again heard an animalistic growl or roar. It was the same voice he heard when he had first equipped the Boosted Gear, a supposed gauntlet of a dragon. If that was true, then that roar also belonged to a dragon.

* * *

Everything was black when he opened his eyes. The complete opposite the white void he found himself in before. Although he was still able to see his own body for some reason, which also allowed him to see the red gauntlet on his arm. He stared at it, the Boosted Gear. The gauntlet manifested itself without him even realizing it.

Another thing he didn't realize until then, was that there was something in front of him. He couldn't believe it was actually there, or that he hadn't noticed until now. It was too big to ignore, and too obvious against the black environment.

It was a dragon, and an enormous one at that. It was more than big enough to swallow him whole, and its colors were the exact same as his gauntlet's. It was covered in red scales, had two long golden horns protruded from its head, and two large wings covered its back. Most importantly, given the circumstances, was that it seemed to be asleep. To Issei's relief, the beast hadn't noticed him.

"_This thing used to belong to that? How did it even wear this thing?_" he wondered. comparing it to his gauntlet.

Suddenly, the gem on the gauntlet started to glow, and the sleeping giant growled. Issei went pale, trying to cover the gem and stop whatever was about to happen, but to no avail. In seconds, the seemingly passive dragon awoke from its sleep. It then turned its head towards Issei, and approached. There was nowhere to run or to hide, nothing to be done but wait.

The dragon lowered its head to be at eye level with Issei. Its eyes were bright green, matching the last color of the gauntlet. Those same eyes focused on Issei, as if staring directly into his very soul. After a while, its eyes narrowed, and it retracted its head. It huffed, releasing smoke from its mouth. Despite not being human, it looked surprised at Issei, but also curious.

"You're, you're the red dragon she mentioned. The Red Dragon Emperor" Issei said aloud. The dragon tilted its head ever so slightly down.

Issei flinched as he saw the dragon's arm move towards him. It held out a single clawed finger right in front of him. It was as if the dragon was pointing at him, or something specific about him. Before Issei could ask, however, the dragon pressed its finger against his chest. The force was enough to knock Issei off of his feet.

He stared at the dragon confused, before its mouth opened. Inside he could see an orange light growing brighter and brighter. Knowing what was soon to come, Issei covered his eyes and covered his face. Fire erupted from the dragon's mouth, engulfing Issei instantly.

Everything went silent for a moment, then he heard distant voices and the sound of a bell ringing. He opened his eyes, and saw that he was back in the classroom. Most of his classmates were emptying out of the room, while Asia waited patiently.

"Issei, I don't think you should be sleeping in class." Asia said, looking concerned at Issei.

"It's fine. I do this all the time anyways." He responded nonchalauntly. Her expression didn't change, despite his efforts. "So how's your first day been?"

"Good! Everyone's been very nice to me today." She said smiling happily. "But some of the girls said some weird things, telling me to be wary of you for some reason."

"Huh, is that so…" Issei said, laughing to himself self-deprecatingly, "By the way. Did anyone ask about the tattoo?"

"No. Caster used some kind of illusion magic on it, so regular people can't see it."

"_Wait, if Caster can make things go invisible..._" Issei thought, giggling to himself. Invisibility was something he had always wanted. It was for less than decent reasons, but he couldn't care less. However, he wasn't going to let her know. She didn't need to know about any of what went on in his mind, for her sake. Like many other things, he shelved the thought for later.

"Well anyways, let's get going…" Issei said, standing up. He left the classroom, with Asia following close behind.

It didn't take long to reach the Old School Building, a few minutes at most. They entered the courtyard, and noticed that Kiba was sitting at the base of the front door's staircase. They walked closer, yet he didn't even react. He seemed to be spaced out, or rather, he was so focused on something in particular that he shut out everything else. Issei knew the feeling, and from experience knew what to do.

"Hey, Kiba." Issei called out, putting his hand on Kiba's shoulder.

The blond nearly jumped. Kiba looked up startled, but quickly calmed himself down when he realized who he was looking at. "Oh, it's you. Sorry."

"You alright?" Issei asked, staring confused at the prince. "Where's everyone else?"

"Oh, uh yeah, I'm fine." He answered, giving the most reassuring look he could. The blank stare Issei responded with quickly shot down his attempt. He turned his head back to his feet. "Someone came here earlier, a member of the Church."

"The Church?" Issei and Asia said simultaneously.

As if on cue, the front doors opened, and out walked a person they hadn't ever seen before. She was wearing a long white robe that covered most of her body, except for her head. Her hair was blue with some green. Most alarming was a large sword on her back. It was wrapped in white cloth, but it was most obviously a greatsword. She must have been strong, strong enough to carry the thing seemingly without any difficulty.

As the girl walked down the stairs, she received an unusually cold look from Kiba, yet didn't even seem to notice either of the boys as she walked. However, just as she passed by Asia, she stopped in her tracks. The look on Asia's face said she'd never met this girl before. Yet at the same time, the blue haired girl look as if she recognized Asia.

"I-Is something wrong?" Asia asked timidly.

"You're Asia Argento, right?" The girl asked, looking sternly at the blonde.

"Um, yes."

The girl continued to stare at Asia, unblinking and expressionless. Everyone was hesitant to say anything else. As if the air froze still around them, yet they could still breath. The girl lifted her arm, as if to grab something, but quickly stopped and lowered it.

"Nevermind. Have a good day." she said, before continuing her walk out of the courtyard.

Even as she left, Kiba didn't break eye contact for even a second. It wasn't until after she disappeared from sight that he regained their self control or even blinked. Simultaneously, their ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps from a different direction. As they looked back towards the open doors, they saw Rias walking out. She looked between a combination of exhausted and frustrated.

"Well, that's over with." She muttered to herself. "Good morning, Issei, Asia."

"What was that about?" Issei asked.

"Issei, Asia, I need you both to come with me. There's something that I need to talk to you about." She asked. The two nodded, and followed her inside the building.

"What was happening with that girl?" Issei asked curiously. "Does the Church not know you guys are… y'know, devils?"

"They know, but that's not what she was here for." Rias sighed. "They're here for the Holy Grail."

"That… sorta makes sense, but I don't think that girl had a servant. I don't think she had any red tattoos." Issei said, scratching his head in search of more information.

"If she is, I don't know. However, they have most definitely entered in your little war… first the fallen angels and now the Church is participating. Things are just getting more and more frustrating." Rias lead the two to the backyard of the building, a field once used for sports practice. The wind blew, causing the fresh-cut grass to sway. It looked well kept, still used for something.

"Let's change the subject." She said, walking further into the field. She turned around and a magic circle appeared beside her. The circle grew brighter, and there was a flash that blinded the two. When their vision returned they noticed a fourth person standing beside Rias. Koneko now stood where the circle laid, and looked more than a little confused. "Since you're both club members now, let's actually do something, shall we?"

"Wait, what are we doing?" Issei asked, looking concerned at Rias.

"Physical training of course. From what I heard, if not for Caster's intervention, both you and Asia would be dead." Issei grasped at his chest, as if something had pierced right through it. Seeing his reaction, Rias giggled. "Those fallen angels were low-class, practically flunkies. You're going to be targeted by people a lot stronger, so it would be in everyone's best interest if you got a bit stronger. It would also probably help you against the other servants and masters, whoever they may be."

"I guess you're right." Issei muttered. He was undoubtedly reluctant to fight Koneko. However, his reason was far from the fear of hurting her. It was the complete opposite. He still vividly remembered her strength, and just how quickly he'd be defeated. The knowledge alone hurt his pride enough, even without being actualized.

Suddenly, Issei felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked to see Asia holding his arm. "Don't worry Issei. I'm here if anything happens"

"Thanks." Issei replied, smiling. After Asia let go, he walked onto the field in front of Koneko, summoning his Boosted Gear. "_No other choice._"

"Begin when ready." Rias announced.

"Boost!" at the call of his gauntlet, Issei dashed forward. As he got closer, Koneko brought her arms up, and when he was close enough he reeled his fist back.

* * *

Followed by the sound of a hard impact, the front door swung open. Standing in the doorway was a young japanese girl, whose leg was suspended in the air. She wore a short sleeveless shirt, one that exposed her midriff. Her hair was frayed, her face was unusually red, and in one of her hands was a mostly-empty bottle of alcohol.

"Yahoo!" She shouted, caring nothing for the time of time or her fellow residents.

Hearing her entry, an old Priest appeared in the hallway. As if intentionally a polar opposite, his expression wasn't nearly as cheerful.

"Archer, where were you?" He asked.

"Off burning mountains… What does it look like?!" She said, staring dumbfoundedly at the old man. "In preparation for the upcoming battles, I've been enjoying myself. Lemme tell ya, this era's food and drinks aren't half bad. The girls are pretty good too."

"..." the old man stared at her, at a loss for words or reaction.

"What? I'm just joking… about some of it… but what's the problem?"

The Priest sighed, holding his shaking hands behind his back. He took a moment to breathe, and calmed himself down. "Archer, we've talked about this before. Everytime you go out there on your own, you endanger the both of us. No doubt other masters are waiting for us to be vulnerable-"

He was cut off by Archer's frustrated groan. "All you ever want to do is sit around hiding while your Fallen Angel friends gather information. A fat load they've done. All we got from Assassin and their idiot Master is that Saber and Caster have been summoned? Do you really think I'm just going to waste my time doing nothing while you tinker with those Excalibur Fragments?"

"For the sake of victory, I'll do what's necessary." The Priest responded, raising his hand. "Even if it means forcing obedience."

Just a moment ago Archer was discontent, she looked bored. However, her lackadaisical visage was gone. Her eyes sharpened, staring directly into her Master's. As he looked back into her blood red eyes, everything but her went dark, and he saw something terrible. He saw a fire, a blaze that anyone would mistake for hell itself. He saw. For a moment, he forgot about his position as a Master.

"Is that so?" Archer asked, smirking maliciously. "And how fast do you think you are?"

Archer snapped her fingers, and before his very eyes, half a dozen firearms appeared out of thin air. They were Arquebuses, matchlock rifles primitive compared to modern weaponry. However, these in particular were the weapons of a heroic spirit. They floated in the air, untouched by any hands, but fully capable of firing at her desired target.

"Faster than I can think of one word, or maybe a snap?" Archer asked, pressing her thumb and middle finger together once more. He didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of outspeeding the Heroic Spirit. Without any other options, he lowered his hand.

Just like that, the danger was gone. The rifles vanished, and the veritable hell he faced was gone. Archer walked towards the Priest, putting a hand on his shoulder. Her smile remained, but it was weightless.

"Seriously, lighten up will ya? A little fun never hurts; it's good for the heart. I'll keep looking for other Heroic Spirits while enjoying myself. If you're ever in trouble, all you need to do is call for me." She said, walking past the Priest and further into the house.

"_Lord give me strength._" The old man thought, looking down at his shaking hands. Far from fear, it was out of anger. Archer should have been under _his_ control, following _his_ orders. Yet just a moment ago, she bore arms against him. Serious or not, it was an unacceptable act of defiance. He still had all three of his Command Seals, but their use would have to wait.

Suddenly, the Priest felt something press against his back. Rather than a weapon, it was another person, albeit too big to be Archer. To have snuck past both of them, it could only have been one person. The Priest refrained from turning around, and waited in silence.

"Valper." The person spoke, "Exorcists from the Church have arrived in japan. They are carrying Excalibur Fragments… as well as a Servant."

* * *

Things went, for better or worse, exactly as he expected. If not for Asia and Caster, he would have most certainly been hospitalized. That, or he would've been dead. Either way, he felt exhausted. For several hours, he was worked to the bone. He didn't stand a chance against Koneko, neither in strength or in experience.

Another thing he learned rather quickly, was that Asia's Sacred Gear couldn't restore stamina. Injuries? Fractured or broken bones? Fixed in seconds. Being on the brink of passing out? No can do.

If nothing else, it was finally over at sundown. The two had left school grounds and headed home. By the time they arrived at Issei's house, the sun was just barely hanging in the sky. Issei opened the door and they entered. Suddenly Issei heard chatter coming from inside. Some of it was his parents, but there was a third voice, one he didn't recognize.

They walked into the living room, and saw Issei's parents on a couch. Sitting across from them was a teenage girl with purple eyes. Her hair was orange, and held up in twintails. Her clothing was the same as the girl they met earlier, a white robe that covered her entire body.

"Oh, welcome you two." Issei's mom said cheerfully. "Look Issei, remember her?" She asked, gesturing towards the orange haired girl.

"Long time no see, Issei." the girl spoke up. "Don't remember me? We go way back."

He searched his memory the best he could, but came up with nothing. He should've remembered meeting such a pretty girl, but came up with nothing. Fortunately for Issei, his mother came to the rescue.

"Here, look at this." She held up a large book, and on one of the pages was a picture of Issei as a kid, He was sitting on the ground, playing with another kid with identically orange hair and purple eyes.

"_He was a girl?!_" was Issei's first thought. Irina Shidou, Issei's friend when they were kids. Since they lived next to each other, they always played together. They were best friends, practically brothers. Yet in all the times they hung out and played, he never once thought he was actually a girl. She always acted like a tomboy, wearing things like sleeveless shirts and shorts. Needless to say, it was an unexpected surprise. Although it soon paled in comparison.

"That sword!" Issei, as well as the entire room, heard Saber's voice as he materialized, grabbing the book out of Issei's mother's hands. As opposed to the excited smile on his face, everyone was frozen. "Master, this is it!"

**END**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Master, this is it!" Saber exclaimed. His smile and eyes were wider and filled with more excitement than Issei had ever seen. He looked as if they had already won the war. Unfortunately, Issei couldn't partake in the premature celebration.

"S-Saber…" He muttered, staring worriedly at his parents.

Saber after calming down slightly, took notice of his surroundings. Issei's parents and Irina were all staring at him, their mouths agape. His smile quickly faded as the realization dawned on him. "Oh uh, r-right…" he said, chuckling softly to himself.

"Issei, dear?" Issei's mom said in a flat tone, not taking her eyes off of Saber. "Who is this boy and where did he come from?"

"He's… uh, well… a little help here Caster?" Issei called out, in the hopes that the other servant would hear.

Caster indeed listened, and materialized behind the couch his parents sat on. "Understood." She waved her staff over their heads, causing them to suddenly lose consciousness. Simultaneously, their eyes closed shut and they slumped onto the couch. Just like that, they were sound asleep. With two down, there was one left. However, as she moved on to Irina, the orange haired girl was already on her feet.

The white robes had been discarded, tossed onto the ground without concern. Underneath, which now showed on the surface, she wore a skintight black suit made for flexible movement. She looked to be both agitated yet ready to fight. The latter was even more evident by the two handed katana she held in her hands.

"_Where'd that come from?!_" Issei thought. Things appearing out of nowhere certainly wasn't a foreign concept, at least not anymore, but it was always coming from something he knew was supernatural.

Irina grit her teeth. "Two servants?" she muttered aloud.

In a split second, Issei's eyes ran up and down her body. Despite the attire, there were multiple parts where skin was exposed. The fact that she knew what Servants were was more than enough proof that she was at least related to the conflict. He looked for a red tattoo to be anywhere on her body, but found none. Rather, he got lost looking elsewhere. Issei felt fortunate that nobody seemed to notice, especially not his childhood friend. If she followed his eyes, she would probably be disgusted.

The fear of that outcome may have been what caused Issei to break his line of sight and re-evaluate the situation. His friend looked about ready to fight two Heroic Spirits. Considering what he knew, she wasn't going to stand a chance, especially not without a servant of her own. Even worse, she didn't look like she was about to stand down. Saber had yet to draw a weapon and Caster hadn't moved an inch, but if Irina attacked either of them, things could change very quickly.

Each second became extra weight on Issei's back. They pressed on him to do something, anything at all that would stop the situation from unfolding any more. A moment later, she lunged forward with her sword held up, and Issei sprung forward.

"Wait!" He shouted, putting himself between the Heroic Spirits and Irina. With him in between her and her target, Irina stopped mid-way, rapidly losing focus. In the process, she also lost her footing, and instead of a lunge, she fell forward.

What a ridiculous life Issei led. One moment: an old friend was about to put herself in serious danger against two superhumans. The next: there was a yelp, and all he could see was black. He wasn't unconscious, as far as he could tell. He still heard everyone's voices, particularly their surprised gasps, and the back of his head ached. He couldn't see anything, like something was covering his eyes. His entire body felt heavier and something soft, like a pillow, pressed against his face.

It was something he had never felt before. Or perhaps he did feel it at some point, but so long ago that it was completely gone from his memories. Whether it was one or the other mattered not, for in that moment of blindness, he felt a sense of unadulterated bliss. He knew exactly, or at least had a good idea of his current predicament. It was a scenario he had only ever dreamed of, never once thinking it would be a reality. The feeling was unparallelled, and in that moment, he wished for it to never stop.

Yet all good things must come to an end. For Issei the end came sooner than later. As it did, he regained his vision, and realized how close he was to being in harm's way. He could see Irina above him, or more accurately on top of him. Her sword was quickly found sticking into the floor right beside his head.

He was speechless, his heart pumping wildly for more reasons than one. Irina quickly dismounted, allowing him to get off the ground. After getting back onto his feet, he watched as Irina pulled the sword out of his floor. All the while her face was a light shade of red and she mumbled something to herself. Interestingly enough, he quickly noticed that Asia was almost the exact same. If he didn't know any better, they were mouthing the same things. Caster looked completely indifferent. Saber stared directly at Issei, subtly smiling while holding a thumbs up.

"_What do you mean 'good job'?_" Issei interpreted and demanded. Saber must've heard, but there was no response. Shrugging of the gesture, he turned back to Irina, who seemed to have recovered. "Um, Irina."

"Y-yes!" She exclaimed, looking awkwardly at Issei.

"About those two, Saber and Caster…"

"Yeah… so you're in this war as well?" With a heavy heart, she asked.

"Just Saber. If it helps, it wasn't on purpose. I just happened to summon Saber when I almost died." Issei said, trying to console her.

"Accident or not, you know what participating means right?" Irina asked, looking scared at Issei.

"Yeah, there's gonna be a lot of fighting ahead of me. Heck, I just barely got out of my last one alive." He said, chuckling self-deprecatingly while scratching his head.

"Issei. If you don't mind me saying, I think you should quit." Irina declared, locking eyes with Issei. "It's more hassle than you should have to deal with. It's not too late to forfeit. All we need to do is transfer your Command Seals and Servant Contract, and that'll be the end of it. You won't have to be in danger any more and can live a regular life."

"Thanks, but I can't do that. The winner gets a wish granted right?"

"Is that wish really worth risking your life?"

Issei nodded his head. However, he seemed to be nodding to reassure himself more than Irina. To him, it was worth it. The prize at the end, the golden glory rivalling heaven itself, was preceded by pain and suffering well beyond what a normal person would experience. Even so, he wasn't going to just quit. Unfortunately, there was most certainly things he wasn't looking forward to.

"I see." Irina muttered, keeping her eyes off of Issei. The Katana transformed, losing its shape and size completely. In a moment, it was no longer even a weapon, but a ribbon-like string tied around her arm. "If that's the case, I should tell you that we'll be enemies in this war."

"What?!" Issei exclaimed, his eyes filled with doubt. Sure, she knew they were servants, but he didn't see any command seals on her body. Then again, her outfit covered most of her body, save for her face, upper arms and thighs.

"I didn't come just to visit… I came here on orders from the Church, and one of those orders was to obtain the Grail."

A cheap shot, or at least it felt like that. Issei grimaced, keeping his mouth shut lest shout in defiance. Even so, his discontent was more than obvious by his look alone.

Following the short and suffocating silence, Asia raised her voice and offered her own thoughts. "Can't we cooperate? At least until we're the only ones left? Even at the end, the Masters don't need to be killed, right?"

"_Really?_" Issei turned, looking at Asia with hope filling his eyes.

Irina looked at Asia, as if confused about something. "You are… no, nevermind… I would love for us all to be allies, but that's not up to me." Irina answered. She slowly removed her gloves, showing off her hands and their lack of Command Seals. She wasn't a master, or at least didn't appear to be one. "My partner's already decided we wouldn't be siding with any other masters. There's nothing else I can do."

"Then there's no other choice, huh?" Issei asked.

"I'm sorry, but… I-I think it's best if we don't meet again Issei. Y'know, at least until this is all over. So, goodbye." Her voice trembled, as if about to cry. She didn't even seem to breathe as she picked up her robe and put it back. Without making eye contact, walking towards the front door… "May God be with you."

She left without saying another word. After they heard the door shut, Issei breathed out a heavy sigh.

"Issei, are you alright?" Asia asked, coming to Issei's side with a look of concern. He didn't respond, and Asia stepped away from him.

"I'm sorry Master. I shouldn't have shown myself." Saber frowned.

"No, it's fine. Would've found out eventuallylater anyways. Better that it happened sooner than later I guess." Issei replied, picking up the scrapbook that Saber dropped. He flipped through the pages, eventually landing on the page Saber had left on.

The picture of him and Irina as kids. He felt the urge to smile, reminisce on those days, but couldn't. Instead, his heart felt heavier than usual. He did his best to ignore it, focusing on the "sword" in the background. It was a sword with a curved golden guard. The sheathe was white and gold, with a large green gem near the center.

"So, what's so important about this thing?" he asked, showing Saber the picture.

"That sword, it's is my true Noble Phantasm, my personal sword from when I was alive." Saber answered, his eyes shifting with confusion. "It looks a bit different, but I can still tell it's the same one. I made it look like that whenever It's not in my possession."

"You can do that? I thought you said you couldn't use magecraft, or magic or whatever." Issei countered, looking disbelievingly.

"Well, I didn't exactly do it myself, but I knew someone who was pretty good."

Just like that, it made sense why he was so excited over it. It was as Yuuma said. Without _his_ Noble Phantasm, he was far weaker than he should've been. Unfortunately, retrieving the weapon was no easier of a task than before. Regardless, it still belonged to Irina's family. In other words, they were a long way from obtaining the blade.

Whatever they were going to do next, it was a problem for later. With things having died down, Issei soon remembered just how tired he was. His eyes gradually became heavier and heavier. Both he and Asia looked over at his parents, who were still sound asleep. Their relaxed expressions looked all the more enviable.

"I think we could all use some sleep." Asia suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Night Asia." Issei replied, heading towards his room.

"Good night."

"Is something wrong Irina?" The blue haired girl asked.

The orange haired girl walking beside her had been unusually quiet. Her greeting was normal, but after that, she was silent. All she could hear from the girl were her footsteps and her breathing, which was also heavier than usual.

"Did something happen at your friends' house?" Irina shook her head frantically. The girl sighed. "You're bad at hiding your emotions."

"I know." Irina whispered.

"Will they let us sleep in their house?"

"...no. I don't think we can."

"That's fine then. I never expected it to work anyway." The blue haired girl shrugged her shoulders, taking out a wallet from under her robe. "We have more than enough to find a place to live, at least until we win. Even more fortunately, the Devils residing in this city have agreed not to interfere."

"Oh, that's good."

"I also came across Asia Argento earlier today." She continued.

Finally, an expected reaction. Irina's face lit up with surprise, her eyes wide and locked on her partner. However, that appeared to be the furthest extent of her response. Irina would normally assault her with questions, curious to know more about the experience. Instead, she continued to stare silently, with something akin to fear in her eyes.

"After her exile, I didn't expect to ever meet her, let alone in japan. To think I'd meet a witch on this mission, it's an odd thing."

"What was she like?"

"I didn't talk to her much. She _did_ seem timid, probably scared or ashamed. I don't blame her, after what she did." The blue haired girl continued, pausing as she looked at Irina. She was mumbling something to herself and despite their proximity, she couldn't make sense out of it. After a moment of incoherent whispering, Irina suddenly stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk.

In an instant, Irina seemed to do a full 180. Her lips curved upwards into a thin but noticeable smile, and her eyes lost their uneasiness.

"Xenovia, I need to call my parents." Irina suddenly declared, with the energy and life that she should have had. "Also, we need to find a post office that does international shipping."

"Umm, ok?" Xenovia said, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Don't worry, I just need them to send me something. It'll definitely help us."

Xenovia's eyes narrowed, suspicious of her partner. "If you're planning on using the Church's money to have a painting shipped to us-"

"I said that wouldn't happen again!" Irina exclaimed, a little more than defensive on the subject.

"As long as you don't forget." Xenovia said, letting a thin smile surface on her face. "If you're sure it'll _actually_ help, then go ahead."

With a seemingly renewed spirit, the two continued to walk down the street. As far as they knew, they were alone, they of course wouldn't have discussed such matters if they weren't. However, they were wrong. They were in fact being followed, but they wouldn't ever know. The unnatural shadows that followed them moved well beyond their reach. Not that they were in any real danger. A single one of them was formidable enough, even for the two agents of the Church. However they remained hidden; watching and listening.

**END**


	10. Chapter 10

**Melbourne Bongcaron: **That's the funniest thing I've heard all month**.**

Chapter 10

With both of his hands wrapped around a wooden handle, Issei brought his sword down on Saber's head. However, the latter quickly raised his own weapon, blocking and countering. He pushed hard, throwing Issei off and moving in for a quick thrust.

Issei shifted his weight, letting gravity do the work to avoid Saber's attack. His opponent's wooden blade just barely missed his chest, Issei briefly smiling with relief. Even though it was just wood, it was still probably going to hurt.

"Boost!" For the third time, his draconic gauntlet shouted. Just like that, he was eight times his regular strength, and with that burst of power he swung at Saber's weapon itself.

With a powerful slash, one too sudden for anyone to properly react to, Issei hit with enough force to press Saber's sword into the sand and cracking part of both weapons in the process.

Saber smiled proudly at Issei before lifting up his leg and kicking. With the enhancements gifted by his sacred gear, Issei took no real damage and felt nothing. However, the kick was still enough to throw him back.

Just as Issei landed, he had to block a charge from Saber. Blocking strike after strike, Issei noticed something. To the boy's surprise, Saber seemed to be having no more difficulty than before. Issei could tell that Saber was holding back, but by just how much was he pulling his proverbial punches? How far above him was this heroic spirit?

"Boost!" Sixteen times stronger, and Issei was finally able to break Saber's charge. In a flash, Issei deflected one of Saber's strikes, leaving his chest wide open, and threw a punch.

He very nearly landed a clean blow, but Saber managed to lift one of his legs. His armor managed to take the brunt of the force, at the cost of his balance. Saber stumbled backwards, trying to regain his footing.

Issei took the chance to activate one of his Boosted Gear's other features. After four multiplications, his sacred gear stopped calling out "boost". That was because sixteen times his strength was the limit of his body. Any more multiplications, and he risked damaging himself instead. was his limit. However he had another option.

"Explosion" the Boosted Gear shouted, rather than the regular "Boost". Instead, the former was capable of releasing all of his accumulated power at once. For a short amount of time, he could surpass his limit.

One last chance to claim victory. He was already this far, it was within grasp. He threw the wooden sword at Saber. He easily knocked away the projectile, just as Issei planned. Having already swung, he wouldn't be able to properly deflect Issei's true attack. With as much strength as he could muster, Issei threw his dragon-clad fist at Saber, aiming for his chest.

But just as his fist was a hair's length away from contact, it touched only air. Just as Issei had before, Saber used his lack of footing to his advantage, letting him narrowly avoid the attack.

Before he could make another move, Issei felt his arm being grabbed and pulled. He was abruptly lifted off of his feet and over Sabers head. Followed by a loud thud, he hit the ground back first, bouncing slightly off the ground after impact. He gasped, resisting the urge to throw up as he lay on the ground dazed.

"I think that's enough." His opponent, Saber, declared. On his word, Asia rushed towards Issei. Her green light enveloped his back and head first, rapidly healing his injuries and potential concussion, before moving on to the rest of his body.

"Thanks again Asia. sorry I keep making you do this." Issei said, smiling at his white mage

"No, it's fine." She responded, looking slightly embarrassed.

Again, for the Nth time that day she healed his body. However, it was something they all had agreed to. At a certain person's insistence, his daily training routine was modified. Rather than training with the Devils, he learned to fight from the resident Heroic Spirits. All the while Caster's magecraft kept their activities secret from the public.

Issei breathed out a sigh, before looking up at Saber, "Really don't hold back do you?" he asked sarcastically.

"I do actually." Saber said smugly. "My strength is at rank A, I had to fight you at somewhere between E to E+."

"Seriously?!" Issei asked in disbelief. "Wait, then what's Caster's strength?"

"Rank E, but with Master supplying me with mana, it's been raised to rank D." The elven girl answered, smiling at Asia warmly. "in other words. I'm stronger than you, especially since I don't need any charge time."

"Don't worry about it Master. Humans aren't supposed to be anywhere near the level of Heroic Spirits." Saber said dismissively. "But with your power, we'll surely get a lot stronger."

"_Here's hoping._" Issei thought. As the glow from Asia's hands disappeared, Issei turned his eyes to Caster. _"But how is she even that strong? Shouldn't mages be weak at melee?_" he wondered. Sixteen times his regular strength was still comparable to only a "weak" Heroic spirit, the one not even remotely suited for close combat.

However, he couldn't complain. It was almost certainly for the better that regular humans weren't even remotely as strong as Heroic Spirits. He would've been dead a very long time ago if that were the case. He shuddered to imagine his fate if the _many_ females that scorned him possessed that kind of destructive power.

His train of thought was soon derailed. Somewhere nearby, there was some music playing. "_Is that rock music?_" He asked himself. "Do you guys hear that too?" Asia, Caster, and Saber nodded their heads, yet none of them seemed intrigued in the least by it.

The only one curious, Issei was soon on his way, leaving the others as he walked. Judging from the direction of the music, it was probably coming from the nearby park, causing him to become even more curious. Who exactly chooses a park of all places to play rock music? It seemed entirely out of place, but also had a certain feel to it that he couldn't contest. The more he walked, the further he went, the more clearly he could hear. From the fiery notes of the guitar to the lyrics that invoked an inferno, Issei could feel his heart pumped faster and more aggressively. Whatever was happening, it excited him beyond his control.

Whatever it was, he would soon find out.

* * *

Just as Issei reached the park, the music stopped, and he was met with an unusual sight. Instead of using the park for playing, or whatever they normally did, the children were gathered together. They were all giving the person in front of them a round of applause.

It was a girl with long black hair, tied in a ponytail. She looked about as tall as Asia was, if not a tiny bit shorter, but with a wildly different look. She was wearing a white sailor-shirt and a blue skirt, reminiscent of the school uniform from an old anime he once watched. However, it was also covered in a dark purple cape and a matching witch hat.

"_Wait… that's a cosplay_." He recognized the outfit, once worn in an old anime.

In her hands was an extremely strange instrument. It vaguely resembled a guitar, but had a skeleton-motif to it, and sharp horn-like protrusions on the body.

"Well, that was the last one." the girl said in a tired yet cheerful tone. The children groaned disappointedly but they quickly dispersed, returning to whatever they were doing earlier.

However, Issei had yet to move. For whatever reason, his body remained still, causing him to stick out and catching her attention. Noticing him still standing there and staring, she put down the guitar and walked towards him with a curious look on her face.

Issei looked concerned, watching her approach while seemingly unable to move. As she came closer and closer, he felt himself becoming warmer and warmer, as if she was a living fire.

"Hey, what's with the long face?" she asked, tilting her head at him. "Came to listen to my solo?"

"Y-yeah, pretty much." he said, chuckling to himself. "You sounded great when I was walking over here, but looks like I'm too late though."

"Thanks! I knew there'd be someone that gets it." She grinned. "But this was kinda a one-time thing, so I won't be doing it again. So instead how about we do something else?"

Issei raised an eyebrow. "Else?"

"Yeah. as compensation for not making it, let's hang out for awhile. You can call it a date if you really want to." She suggested. Though she was clearly joking, Issei looked at her with a straight and sorrowful gaze. Her smile faded as she saw his expression, and she looked away apologetically. "Oh, guess that's not really an option?"

"Sorry, I… 'dating' brings up some bad memories." Issei said. Behind his back and out of view, he clutched his hands together.

She shrugged nonchalauntly. "I get that. I was never good with dating either. So let's just not call it a date then. It'll just be a hangout. Sound good?"

"Uh, sure, I'm not busy with anything right now." he answered.

"Perfect! Then let's go!" The girl exclaimed, rolling up the witch hat and cape before throwing it aside. She gestured for Issei to follow, he did, and they quickly left the park.

"So you watched it too huh?" Issei asked, eyeing her uniform.

"Yep! Totally worth it."

* * *

"He hasn't come back yet." Asia remarked. She looked worriedly at the door he left through. It'd been nearly half an hour since he left, and not a word from him came back. "Is he alright Saber?"

"Hm? Yeah, he's fine I think." Saber answered. "Well, it's not like i know for certain; he hasn't said anything and I haven't asked myself, but if he's a tough one. If he needs help, he'll definitely tell us."

Asia frowned, looking away from Saber. "Oh, then i'm glad…"

"Let me guess. You miss him don't you?" He asked. Watching as Asia nearly jumped with surprise, and her face turn bright red with embarrassment, he laughed. "I can tell by the way you look at him. It's kinda obvious; you care a whole lot about him, maybe even like him."

"U-u-uh, well… That's because he saved me, and you're giving me a place to stay until I find somewhere else to live." she said, giving hollow laugh.

"Yeah but that's not the only reason." Saber countered, glancing behind Asia at Caster. "You can see it too right?"

Asia looked behind her, only to see the elven mage nod her head. "Master, you're rather transparent, even if you don't know. It's sweet though. I'm sure he appreciates it…" she suddenly paused, looking away as if afraid to look her master in the eyes. "If he even notices." she whispered sharply.

"It's true. My Master isn't very observant." Saber chuckled, scratching his head. "But he's a good kid. My previous master was-" Saber abruptly stopped, his reminiscing smile turned to a pained grimace. He lowered his head, holding it in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Asia asked, scanning his body with a panicked look.

"Y-yeah… I think." He groaned, unable to lift his head. "I just… I don't know. How does a servant even get a headache? I don't even have the Migraine skill."

"Is it possible, Caster?" Asia asked.

Caster shook her head at the question. "Not that I'm aware of. Perhaps if Saber would tell us his true name, we could determine the source of his migraine."

"Sorry, won't be that easy." Saber retorted. He inhaled sharply and waited a moment before sighing heavily. He raised his head up, looking at the girls with a weak smile. "I haven't even told my own master yet, no way i'm telling another Master or Servant before that."

"Why do you still choose to keep your name a secret from Issei? Is it so he doesn't accidentally tell us?" Asia asked confused.

"No, it's not something like that. To be honest, it's more selfish than that." Saber answered promptly. He scratched his head, looking away sheepishly. "I don't want anyone to know my name, not until I have my True Noble Phantasm."

"You're ashamed, aren't you?" Caster concluded.

"Pretty much." Saber answered, less than proud. "I don't want to be known as the one Heroic Spirit who lost their Noble Phantasm y'know? I'd rather die than be a laughingstock." he remarked. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Asia's face. She looked at him sympathetically, as if she was holding something back. He sighed, lowering his shoulders. "Well, I suppose you already know, don't you?"

"U-huh? No. not at all." Asia said, holding her hands up defensively.

He chuckled. "You don't have to hide it. You're a smart kid, and you figured it out a long time ago. I should be thanking you, for not telling anyone about it. Even though it might give you an advantage against me. I respect that." he said, smiling at the blonde.

Asia nodded hesitantly. She hugged her legs, feeling discontent. "I shouldn't be keeping secrets though. It's not right, right?"

"We all do things that aren't 'right'. Sometimes it's for good reasons and sometimes for bad reasons. I'll surely tell him sooner or later. Hell, it might be sooner, since I might never actually get my hands on my Noble Phantasm. No way an enemy Master's gonna just give it to us." Saber said. He sighed tiredly.

His most trusted and most powerful sword, the key to unlocking his his true strength, was also an extreme distance away. No matter how powerful Issei or he became, it wouldn't matter if an enemy Servant had the right tools for the job. There were plenty of Noble Phantasms capable of penetrating their defenses and wipe them out, and without his own, he couldn't counter them properly. The best case scenario would be to wait until he and Caster were the only ones remaining. With his Magic Resistance being at rank A, even her beams of light would be nothing. However, even setting aside the other circumstances that would make such a fight all the more difficult, the chances of such an eventuality was next to none.

"Well, we'll just figure things out as we go." Saber said, looking up and smiling. "It's more fun that way anyways."

"Saber, what do you think about the Devils?" Asia asked.

Saber blinked at the blonde, looking confused by her question. He hummed quietly to himself. "I don't really know. My whole life I always believed Devils and Demons were evil, the very incarnation of sin. The church here teaches the same thing too. But, that girl and her 'family'. I… it's a weird feeling y'know?"

She nodded, wearing the same troubled expression as he did. "Rias said she would have brought us back if we died. I don't know how, but it must be really difficult or expensive to do that too. I don't think she meant to use us as tools or slaves either. I think she meant it genuinely."

"New territory for both of us. It's pretty exciting though." he remarked. Suddenly, Saber noticed Caster's awkward-looking position. She held her staff in both hands with her eyes closed, as if meditating or praying. Her ears twitched and her grip tightened and loosened at random. Saber tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

Caster stood up, holding her staff as if readying for combat. "A lot of magical energy coming towards us. I don't recognize it as anyone we know either."

"Is it another servant?" He asked, looking alarmed.

"No, I think it's something else. This is demonic and… hot, like fire?"

* * *

"Ugh, it's just so stupid y'know?!" the black haired girl asked. Her face was slightly red from alcohol consumption. "He's just an old man, what would he know?"

"My mom and dad are always trying to rush me. It's crazy how much they talk about grandchildren!" Issei replied, just as fired up as she was.

"What's so wrong with wanting to do your own thing anyways?!"

"I know right? They don't get it at all!"

For a moment, the two fell silent. They looked at each other, with a fire behind their eyes. It was the same fire, build out of frustration and irritation. They chose to be what they wished to be, to strive for their own desires and none other. For that, they were scorned and suppressed. They felt anger, but nowhere near the level of "hatred". The girl seemed to recognize this, and smiled.

"Well, that's just life ain't it?" She said, loosely dangling a glass in her hand.

"Yeah, and you can't ever give up." Issei sighed, smiling. As painful as it was at times, it wasn't entirely hopeless. It was those exceptions that supported him, gave him refuge, and showed him an opportunity to escape. "Especially not me. Soon, I'll get my wish, my very own harem." Issei declared.

"Bwahahaha." The girl broke out into laughter. "Seriously? That's pretty ambitious y'know. I remember wanting one as a kid. Then I realized how tough just _one_ was. Sure you can take it?"

"You bet! Just you wait and see-" Suddenly, Issei paused. He could feel a telepathic link being established, and soon heard Saber's voice.

"_Master! Can you activate your Boosted Gear?_" he said, sounding rushed.

Issei looked down at his arm, but remembered where he was. There was no way he could in front of this girl. "_What's going on?_"

"_We're under attack, a dev-_" Before Saber could finish, the link was cut abruptly.

Issei quickly stood up. "S-sorry, I gotta go. Something ca-I mean, I just remembered something I needed to do."

"Hm? Alright. See ya later." she said, lazily waving at him.

He quickly exited the building, looking around him and seeing that he was alone. Without hesitation, he summoned his Boosted Gear. it flashed green, doubling both the mana he could supply Saber with, as well as his speed as he ran. Though he didn't know the situation completely, Saber was clearly in distress, which also meant Caster and Asia were in danger. Fortunately, the connection also informed Issei of their location. They hadn't left the park, and it wasn't too far.

**END**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"This is demonic and… hot, like fire?" Caster said with a confused look. After a moment, it changed to alarmed. "No, I do sense another Heroic Spirit as well. They're both coming here." Caster quickly chanted a spell, causing Asia to be briefly enveloped by a glowing aura.

Saber produced Durandal into his hand, and kept his other hand at the ready. He looked all around them, his eyes darting in every direction to find their enemy. He couldn't see anything from either around or above them. That was, until he heard an unnatural crackling sound. He and caster both looked in the same direction, and saw something on the ground.

The two saw a magic circle on the ground. It was orange in color, with a five pointed star in the middle. Within the star was a smaller circle, containing a unique symbol. In an inexplicable way the symbol resembled a bird, and given the fire-like effect that the entire circle gave off, it was most likely meant to represent a phoenix.

Just a moment later a plume of fire arose from the circle, spitting out multiple embers which then grew on their own. In total sixteen pillars of fire stood; some were the same height while others were significantly different. Assuming each of the pillars related to the Heroic Spirit, it was possible that these were Assassin. However, such an entrance would be wildly unfitting for someone with a moniker like "Assassin". Not to mention he had never once seen Assassin associate with the element.

All things considered, they were likely the source of the magical energy Caster mentioned. In other words, up to potentially 14 demons were about to appear in front of them. Unfortunately, they knew not the relationship these may have had to the—currently residing—Devils of the city. A misstep may accidentally cause a snowball effect.

A moment later and the fires disappeared, leaving behind sixteen individuals. fifteen of them were women and one was a man. The girls varied greatly in size, some looked like adults while others could feasibly pass as children. There was only one man, who appeared to be the leader of the group. He wore a red suit with a white shirt visible underneath. His hair was a dark blond.

He looked calmly at the three, almost like he was bored. He first skimmed over Caster then at Saber and Asia.

"Tch," he frowned. The man raised his hand, pointing at Caster. "Which one of you is this girl's master?"

Asia hesitated to answer. However, it seemed that she wouldn't have to. She watched with surprise and confusion as Saber stepped forward, looking the man dead in the eyes.

"So, the choir boy huh." He scoffed. "You don't look like a Master."

"Well, you're not very master-like yourself." He answered back, smirking.

"Watch it kid." he glared at Saber, as if trying to set him on fire with looks alone. "Whatever… if you're really that servant's Master, hand over your contract and your command seals. In exchange, I'll let you live."

At a speed faster than a heartbeat, or even the blink of an eye, an arm's length between him and the leader of the devils was gone. The glimmering black blade of Durandal was hovering off of his neck. Likewise, most of the lesser devils had also moved. Daggers, swords, and magic circles surrounded him from head to toe. It was as if fifteen guns were pointed at one another, and even the slightest noise would set them all off.

"So, it's gonna be like that huh?" the male devil said.

"You should leave, while you still can." Saber said, smiling confidently. The grip on his sword tightened and magical energy flowed into it, increasing its sharpness. He flicked his wrist, and multiple red and blue javelins appeared. Each of their blades and barrels were focused on the female devils.

The male devil laughed, before raising his hand. The girls retracted their weapons, but remained at the ready. Saber slowly stepped back as well.

"Unfortunately for you I'm also a master, one that's far beyond something like you. Kill him, Berserker!" he shouted. Saber's eyes widened, but there was no time.

Like a bolt of lightning something dropped upon Saber from above, and like thunder, it created a loud booming sound. With the swing of a sword, the cloud was quickly waved away, but it wasn't Saber who had done so. With the dust was cleared, everyone could see the aggressor. Berserker, or so they were called, was also a woman. She was a full grown woman, in certain places _unnaturally _large, with long dark purple hair. She wore pink and purple bodysuit underneath samurai-esque armor.

"That's berserker?!" Saber said briefly. She swung at him, and he ducked out of the way. However, to his surprise, she quickly turned the blade and struck again. Saber blocked, but was still sent skidding back. If Durandal was not famed for being unbreakable, it would've shattered immediately.

"Girls, keep that Caster busy." The male devil commanded.

Putting Asia behind her, Caster raised her staff and subsequently a barrier. Just in time as they were bombarded by magical projectiles. The constant attacks shook the area around the two, but Caster and the barrier held firm.

"A-are you alright?" Asia asked.

Caster nodded, looking behind at Asia confidently, "Of course, this level of magecraft is nothing."

As the attacks continued to collide against its outer surface, the barrier grew larger. It was absorbing the magical energy they were throwing at it. By the time of girls realized what was happening and stopped, the shield was several times larger than before. In the next moment it rapidly shrunk, flowing like a stream into Caster's clothes. The girls tried to attack again, couldn't even move their bodies. As if they were frozen in ice, or they were turned to stone. They struggled to break free from whatever held them, but to no avail. As they did, magic circles appeared above their heads.

Just a few blasts from her A rank spell, the Rain of Light, and they would all be history. Even servants couldn't withstand them. However, just before she could obliterate them, she was engulfed in a massive jet of fire.

"Caster!" Asia shouted with a horrified face.

The source of the fire, the fifteenth female devil, stood a short distance away smirking. Her purple hair flowing back as she continued to produce scorching flames.

"You didn't forget how many of us there were, did you?" She asked, doubling her output for good measure. The immobilized girls soon regained control of their bodies, and the woman lowered her hand. All that was left for the large ball of flame to do was disappear.

Indeed it did, but in a way that left the female devils speechless. Rather than gradually dissipating, the flame burst like a balloon. Where there should have been nothing, there remained a blue dressed elven girl. She was unblemished, despite the inferno that made her its core. There wasn't even a single burn mark on her clothes, not one. On her face was a look of indifference, neither anger at the surprise attack nor elated to respond. Unsure of what to do next, the female devil could only stumble back.

"Of course not." She answered, looking sympathetically at the woman. "I went through all of the effort just to gauge your capabilities. "You are much weaker than I expected you to be. I don't even need " she said, causing the woman's eyes to widen. "Now then-" as she spoke, Saber's body flew across her and skid to a halt considerably far away.

His armor was worse for wear; scratched, dented, and gored. A few arrows stuck out of him. Blood was leaking out from several places and his breathing was heavy. He grit his teeth, looking forward at Berserker.

"_Damn she hits hard._" The knight thought with a grimace. She was strong, even for Berserkers. No, his almost complete inability to actually fight her was something else. Even with support from his Master, none of his weapons or attacks seemed to be enough to hurt her. Even his javelins were dispatched in seconds. Conversely, her attacks were doing way more damage than they should have been. In other words, there was something else at play, something keeping him at a disadvantage.

He looked across the battlefield. The male devil hadn't moved an inch, and one of the female devils stood next to him. Interestingly enough, they had an uncanny resemblance to one another. They might have been related to each other. More importantly, Caster had easily taken care of the rest of their enemies. However, instead of assisting him against Berserker, she seemed unwilling. Though he was saddened, it made enough sense considering how high his Magic Resistance was. None of her offensive spells would be able to touch him, let alone put him down. If he fell here, she could probably take down Berserker, as they often didn't have high Magic Resistance.

He shifted his focus back to Berserker, who charged towards him. He prepared to evade and counter attack from behind, but instead he watched as Berserker's body was thrown into the ground. He looked around to see the cause, his eyes stopping on Caster's raised staff.

"Please, hurry and stand up." She said, looking slightly aggravated. Despite the force pressing down,

"Uh, y-yeah, thanks." He replied, laughing dryly. Knowing that he could rely on another Servant was always a good thing. However, being saved by a little girl wasn't something he was particularly proud of.

"What are you doing Berserker! Get up!" The male devil shouted. His command seals began to glow, signalling that he was about to use one of them, before he heard footsteps growing closer. Everyone seemed to hear it, and turned to see someone whose arm was clad in red running towards them.

"Boost!" Issei's gauntlet flashed green, increasing his speed to its current maximum.

"Oh? Reinforcements huh?" The male devil cocked his eyebrow. He raised one of his hands, firing a fire-made spear at the boy.

With his enhanced speed, Issei tilted his head to avoid the projectile, However, just as it passed by, an idea came to mind. By all means, it was completely ridiculous. Even worse, it was rather stupid. If there was actually any thought behind it, it was something along the lines of "wouldn't it be cool to catch and hold fire?", and with nothing more on his mind, he acted on that inspiration. He swiftly moved his hand up, trying to wrap his fingers around the pole of the weapon. It burned slightly, his hand protected by the dragon scales of his gauntlet. After nearly falling onto the ground from losing balance, he smiled at the flaming spear construct in his hand.

He was overwhelmingly proud of himself, more so relieved it didn't hurt as much as he expected it to. However, it was a short-lived success, as a ring of fire appeared around him, rising up to become a cage. Even worse, the cage was slowly shrinking, the eye of the storm growing ever smaller. The only way out was through, assuming he could survive the heat long enough.

To his relief, he did not need to. The crackling and roar of the fire muffled what he could hear, but there was something else going on. Before he could be completely engulfed, the flames vanished in an instant. He could see everyone once more, and more. Saber, Caster, and Asia were safe, albeit Saber was much worse for wear. The male devil and his fifteen female compatriots were on the other side of a large red circle, one that hadn't been there before.

Two glowing figures appeared before revealing themselves to be Rias and Akeno. The former of which glared daggers at the blond devil. An oppressive, almost suffocating aura emanated from her body, turning the air around her crimson. She looked angry at the male devil as she walked towards him.

"Well, you've finally come to greet me." He said while smirking. His head was tilted ever so slightly, just so that he could look down at her. "Your hospitality sure has gotten worse since the last time we met."

"And I see that you're causing trouble in _my_ territory. Isn't that a little indignant of you?" Rias retorted, crossing her arms demandingly.

Riser lowered his head, showing a more serious face. "Yes, well, that's none of your concern. Considering how rarely you leave your little city, I wouldn't expect you to know a thing about the-"

"Holy Grail War." Rias interjected, putting a swift end to Riser's speech. "And those Command Seals prove that you're a Master… to both my surprise and my frustration." She said with a soft groan.

"Hm, It seems I haven't given you enough credit. If you know the circumstances, then surely there's no problem in what I'm doing here, yes? After all, eliminating the enemy is only natural, and required." The red haired girl said nothing, as she didn't need to. His expression changed, and a thin smile formed on his face. "Although, since you're here, I can do what I _actually_ came here for."

"And what may that be?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious? I'm here to discuss our marriage."

"_MARRIAGE?!_" Issei and Saber looked at one another, their identical reactions confirming they had the same thought. Considering the conversation they were having, they didn't seem the least bit compatible. With what little they knew of Rias, they couldn't possibly imagine why she would choose to marry someone like Riser. A few seconds into that notion, and they had a realization. All things considered, it may not have been voluntary.

"I believe I made myself clear the last time you proposed. I have no intention of marrying you." Rias remained firm, her face unchanging and stern.

"Unfortunately, that's not quite your choice anymore." He said, his smile returning. "Earlier today, I had a lengthy conversation with your brother. He agreed that our marriage would be a step in the right direction. Our ceremony is scheduled to be in a few months, but I came to let you know early."

Rias flinched at his reference to her brother, her animosity towards him growing ever stronger. Even so, he kept his composure. Looking down at the self-restraining girl, he sighed and clapped his hands together.

"Well, we both expected you to resist, and you're brother is quite attached to you. Even if it's for the survival of our species, he was reluctant all the way. So we reached a compromise, a Rating Game between us to decide whether our marriage will be finalized."

"_A what?_" Issei thought puzzled.

"Tell me, how many members do you have?" Riser asked, gesturing to the girls behind him. "As you can see, I've maxed myself out. But from what I hear, you only have a handful under you. That's rather unfortunate for you, now isn't it?.

"Unlike you, I don't see my family as objects." She said, glancing at the blonde devil behind him. As it appeared, they were indeed siblings… one _owned_ by the other.

"Regardless, victory is all but assured for me. So, I'm simply asking you to concede the Rating Game. Four or Five against sixteen? Well, if we add my Servant into the equation, it would be seventeen. The end results should be obvious."

"What if it was nine?" At that moment, Riser and Rias both looked to see that Issei had stepped forward. His eyes were clear, yet filled with a sort of resolve. His fists were clenched, as if he was about to punch Riser. The blond devil stared at Issei, at the draconic gauntlet on his arm, and at the Command Seals on the other.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is the new Red Dragon Emperor… well, whatever you are. I'd suggest you get lost. This is a matter between pure-blooded devils, something only we can participate in."

"But you just mentioned using your Servant." Issei retorted. "Besides, if you're so confident, a few extra players in this 'game' shouldn't matter, should it? Or are you just bragging?"

"Issei, stop." Rias said, but her words fell on deaf ears. Neither of the boys seemed to hear or listen, their attention locked onto one another.

"No, If this guy's gonna treat you like an object, he needs a few good hits. I'll be happy to give them." Issei said, cracking his knuckles.

"So then you're challenging me? No, you're insulting me" Riser muttered, his smile becoming crooked. His fists shook for a moment, but quickly calmed. He closed his eyes and hummed to himself briefly. "Well, Contesting and defeating not only the Princess of Ruin and the Red Dragon Emperor… on top of that, eliminating two servants for the price of one. Yes, this could work quite well!" He turned back to Rias. "Our Rating Game will be within two weeks. You have that long to decide whether or not your new ally will participate. I'll send you the details later"

Riser turned away and walked back to his collection of women. A large orange magic circle appeared beneath them, enveloping them in a harmless fire. With his back turned, he waved to the two. "I do hope you will make the right decision." with his last words spoken, the seventeen vanished into thin air. All that was left were Rias, Akeno, Issei, Asia, and their servants.

"Issei…" Rias said, her voice trembling. She looked at him, and he realized the aura around her hadn't left yet. Before he could respond she swung her arm, clipping her open palm across his face.

"R-Rias?" He stuttered surprised.

"What were you thinking?!" She shouted.

"Well, I was thinking about punching that guy." He answered, rubbing the red side of his face. "If you don't want to marry someone, then you shouldn't have to."

"You're putting yourself and Asia in danger by doing this. Riser will not not go easy on you, especially since he has a reason to kill you."

"Yeah, but that's not really anything different." Issei said, looking back at Asia and their servants. "We're already in danger no matter what. Until we win this war, that won't change. This is our chance to beat that Riser guy and his servant, it's a win-win."

"We want to help you, after what you did and what you still do for us. It's only right that we do what we can for you too." Asia added.

"Think of it as us repaying our debt." Saber interjected.

Rias looked blankly of the four, in awe of their declarations. Without a doubt, their assistance would be a huge benefit. Nearly instantaneous healing from both Asia and Caster, not to mention the latter's offensive capabilities, Saber's ability to fight at a distance and up close, and the Boosted Gear from Issei. Adding their strengths to hers could certainly turn the tables. Albeit, even at first glance, the four didn't seem like they'd even take no for an answer.

With that said, Rias looked at Akeno. The latter nodded, before a magical circle appeared beneath their feet.

"I'll speak with you tomorrow." She said, lowering her gaze. "Thank you."

And with that, they disappeared. The air resumed its movement, and everyone was filled with a refreshing air.

Saber turned towards Issei, looking at him curiously. "Hey Master, where'd you end up going?"

"Huh? Oh right. So I followed the music I heard to the park, and saw this girl playing a weird looking guitar. We sorta ended up getting lunch. I never got her name though." he said, smiling innocently. However, he noticed the stares from the three and stopped. "What?"

In silence, Caster evaporated into her spiritual form. Saber facepalmed, before doing the same. Asia could only hang her head down.

"What? Is something wrong?" He asked the blonde.

Asia lifted her head and smiled. "...no, it's nothing. They're just exhausted from fighting." she explained.

"Huh, that makes sense. Sorry I couldn't help much." he apologized.

"It's fine."

**END**


	12. Announcement

**Sorry to everybody, but I'm making the announcement that this story will be discontinued. It's not for any particular reason other than I simply want to stop doing it. Chances are I will do something related to Fate and Highschool DXD in the future, becasue I do have some ideas for fate stuff, but it probably won't be this story again. Apologies to everyone who wanted to see the continuation and completion of this story. If anyone wants to pick it up, go ahead and DM me. Otherwise, I'll be focusing more on my other project(s).**


	13. Follow up

**Sorry for how sporadic these seem, I'm a bit scatterbrained and act impulsively on some things. That being said, I have some more information to offer. That said, this is another update to sorta rectify what I said previously. **

**From some of the reviews, and my own personal retrospection, I've thought about some of the major flaws in this fanfic I made.**

**First off was the set of servants. Looking at the seven that I chose, it became ever so clear to me that it was going to be a landslide victory. Pretty much all of the servants, revealed and not revealed, had aspects of divinity and mystery to them. In other words Archer, aka Oda Nobunaga, would've probably mopped the floor with all of them. Even Issei, with the Boosted Gear, may not have been able to beat her. Not saying that he isn't strong, just that they're not compatible. On top of that, I didn't think some of the pairings I did were very good, and probably could've been better.**

**Second was the involvement of the Holy Grail War and the devils/angels. I think I could've planned it out a lot better than I did. That's another thing I'll be thinking about during the planning process.**

**Fate/DXD may very well be rewritten. Although it will likely have a different set of heroic spirits. While working on my other story, i'll be doing some research on different historical myths and legends to figure out a more interesting story to work with.**

**That's all for now.**


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